Kirby: Coming Storm
by Medalis
Summary: Dreamland is a peaceful land...until that one fateful day.Kirby didn't ask for this, it just happened.Now he must face the powers of darkness and death,with only his friends and a star with him.Rated for language and a few semi-scary scenes. SCRAPPED.
1. The Legend of the Dream Warrior

_Over a thousand years ago, life was peaceful and perfect in Dreamland. The King was just and fair, putting his people before himself. Crops were plentiful and abundant, providing constant food and health. The Sparkling Stars at the time resided at the Fountain of Dreams, home of the great Star Rod. They were the Power of Dreams, and together Dreamland thrived and grew._

_But like all perfect things, it must come to a end. _

_In contrast to the light of the Stars, a great evil lurked at the corners of the universe, waiting for the light to flicker. The time came when a young boy named Metanor became corrupt through the power passed down from his grandfather Galatica; the greatest Warrior in the Galaxy. _

_When Dreamland banished Metanor; Zero, the Queen and Leader of Dark Matter, molded him. 100 years later, he returned, with an army ready to destroy all of Dreamland. _

_Metanor was sealed with the Power of the Sparkling Stars and the Star Rod, never to awaken. Zero and her minions disappeared to the far reaches once again, and all seemed right. _

_Dreamland had taken a blow; plagues and crop failures seemed common, and many died. Some believe that Metanor has poisoned the land, and they left to follow what he laid down for his followers in the Dark Kingdom. _

_People knew that if Metanor were ever to break free of his prison, all would be lost. They preached of a warrior with the power to stop his Nightmaric powers; the Dream Warrior. _

_Holding the Power of the Stars in his hands, the Dream Warrior would kill the Nightmare Warrior in a last ditch effort, bring peace forever to Dreamland. _

_Over a thousand years passed; the spell held it deathly grip and Metanor remained in slumber. _

_If the spell were to break before the Dream Warrior was born, Dreamland would be lost to darkness… forever. _


	2. Kirby and the Sparkling Star

The pink Betamon _(1)_ sighed, resting his blue eyes. He opened his eyes to look out on his home. His family owned a large farm, and a semi-large house. At the center of the crop field was a tower, which held one of the Sparkling Stars _(2)_. The Betamon ran towards the tower, but his father stopped him.

"Kirby, if you're going to the Star, can you turn the watering system on?" the near identical Betamon asked. Kirby nodded, smiling as he ran off to the tower. He ran through the Maximum Tomatoes _(3)_, grabbing a few and eating them, and ran into the tall building. Inside was a tall staircase that winded along the walls. Kirby sprinted up, opening the door to the 'Star Room'. Inside was a podium holding a bright yellow star that sparkled and shined, rightfully known as one of the Sparkling Stars.

He walked over to it, his blue eyes focused solely on the star. He reached a paw out, placing it on the beautiful star, feeling the warmth from it spread up his arm. He closed his sky blue eyes as memories flashed by his eyes, memories of people and battles now forgotten.

Since Kirby was born, he had a strange connection to the Sparkling Stars. No one doubted that this child was special. This was only strengthened when Kirby's parents brought him and his siblings to the mystical Rainbow Resort _(4)_, and Kirby had wandered off. Kirby's parents searched everywhere for him, and they found him near the Fountain of Dreams, his hand on the Star Rod _(5)_.

Kirby took his hand off the Sparkling Star and walked over to a machine that had a picture of a rain cloud on it. He pressed the green button, activating the sprinkler system. When he turned to leave the room, he placed his paw on the Sparkling Star again, sliding it off as he jumped out of the window. He landed on the ground expertly, but when he got up and started to walk towards home, he tripped.

Kirby heard laughing and looked up. A yellow Betamon was standing above him, laughing.

"Hey Kirby, are you seeing _stars_? Hahahaha!" the Betamon laughed, pointing his paw at Kirby. Although the pink puff didn't recognize the Betamon visually, the voice gave everything away.

"Jeez Keeby _(6)_, what happened to your skin? Didja rub sunflower petals on yourself?" Kirby hotly responded, getting up.

"Its called 'Spray Paint _(7)_'! I'm not surprised you don't know about it though, since you spend so much time hanging around with inanimate objects." Keeby spat. Kirby puffed up a little, his anger flaring. The other Betamon stuck his tongue out; his purple eyes closed shut.

Kirby's family heard shouting and fighting, but they dismissed it. It wasn't often that Kirby and Keeby got along for more than five minutes.

* * *

Kirby walked into the house, covered in bruises. A female pink Betamon with long brown hair shook her head, her blue eyes closed.

"Kirby, can't you and Keeby get along for once?" she asked, getting out a Maximum Tomato and giving it to him. Kirby gulped it down, his bruises gone in a flash.

"Not my fault he's such a jerk." Kirby said, walking up to the stairs, passing his little sister. "Hey Nuka _(8)_, what're you drawing?"

Nuka looked almost exactly like their mom, but her eyes were instead purple, like their dad's. She held up her drawing, showing a pink puffball and a blue puffball that seemed to be fighting. "Wow Nu-nu! This is awesome! How about we put this one on the corkboard?" Kirby said, picking his sister up and throwing her into the air. She puffed up a little, flouting down into Kirby's paws. She climbed onto his head, and the two walked upstairs to their shared bedroom.

It was a faded baby blue room with equally faded wooden floors. Gold paper stars hung from the low ceiling, followed by two plain wooden beds. One had tall wooden bars on it, so the occupant wouldn't fall out when sleeping. Kirby placed Nuka in this bed, making sure she wouldn't fall and hurt herself. She propped herself up a little as her older brother took a pin out of a child proof box and placed it over the picture, pinning it to a corkboard filled with drawings.

"Perfect! Someday Nu-nu, you're gonna be a famous artist!" Kirby said, walking over to his little sister and rubbing her head. Both heads looked up as they heard their mother call them down for dinner.

* * *

A dark blue blob with a silly expression on his face hopped into a shed, closing and locking the door behind himself.

"Finally, a moment to myself… or rather, to my inventions!" the blob hopped over to a faded and dented red toolbox, taking out a drill. He moved over to a hunk of dented metal, lifting the drill… when he gasped, falling from his chair. He hit the floor with a _**thud**_, his gold eyes distant.

_The blob stood on a barren windswept plain, looking around. He looked up to the red sky, horrified. Suddenly, a black cloud made it's way across the sky, and cast the ground into darkness. The blob couldn't move as a near identical masked being shot from the cloud and swung two golden swords…

* * *

_Kirby ate his meal quickly, wanting to have time to see the Sparkling Star before bed.

"Jeez Kirby, slow down! You'll get sick if you eat like that." His mother said, slowly chewing her food.

"Nothing can get Kirby sick… he's eaten a wheel barrow before!" Kirby's near identical father rolled his purple eyes, smiling. Kirby placed his fork down, quickly said "MayIbeexcusedpleasethanks!" and ran out the door.

He ran through the field towards the tower, and touched his paw to the star when he reached the Star Room. However, this time no forgotten images came to mind.

"Huh?" Kirby looked at the Sparkling Star, confused. He waited, but nothing happened. He turned away to leave, casting a final glance at the star before walking down the steps.

When Kirby got home, his parents were watching TV, casting each other worried glances.

"What's up?" he asked, walking up to them.

"According to the news, the other four Sparkling Stars aren't shining as much as they did earlier today." Kirby's dad said, his blue eyes filled with worry.

"The Star didn't show me anything either…" Kirby responded. His mother grabbed the remote and shut the television off, frowning.

"That's enough of that. Kirby, it's time for bed. Goodnight." She walked quickly to a bedroom. Kirby's dad sighed, placing a brown worker's mitten on Kirby's shoulder.

"She's just really worried. You know better than anyone that this can't be good."

Kirby nodded, walking up the stairs. "'Night Dad."

"'Night Kirby."

* * *

Meanwhile, beneath the Fountain of Dreams, a crystal stood silently, a black cloud inside it swirling.

_Heh heh heh… Soon…

* * *

_

Okay, now that that's finished, onto the info!

(1) A Betamon is an enemy in Kirby's Dreamland 3 that looks exactly like Kirby. This enemy can only be fought in one place, as it is seen walking around behind walls where Kirby cannot reach. I simply figured that all Betamon are naturally pink, with the exception of Metanor.

(2) The Sparkling Stars are items from Kirby's Dreamland and Spring Breeze. There's five in total, and they fertilize the land so Dreamland can grow food. In this fiction, they have more meaning and hidden powers. Also, they form a special shape… you'll find out about that later.

(3) Maximum Tomatoes are food that will heal Kirby completely in the games. Here, they are the main source of food and are used for medical purposes. (4) The Rainbow Resort is, normally, a final level. It has multi-colored water and a fountain at the center. In this fiction, it's a rare place to go, due to some issues later discussed in the story… (5) The Star Rod is the very source of Dreams, but I can't say anything more. (6) Keeby is the name of a yellow Betamon from Kirby's Dream Course, who seems to be his rival. In this fiction, the two don't like each other at all, and fight a lot. Keeby's also the same age as Kirby. (7) Spray Paint is a collectable item first introduced in Kirby and the Amazing Mirror and it changes the color of Kirby's skin and shoes. It's portrayed like Hair Dye in this fiction. (8) Nuka is Greenlandic for 'Younger Sibling'. It has nothing to do with a nuke.

Kirby's ten years old. Nuka's 7, and she's mute for the first couple chapters. And if you didn't catch the hint in the prologue… I swear you are thickheaded.

I've been working on _Hoshi no Kaabii REWRITTEN! _for the past few days, and _almost_ lost all my work. Good news though, iTunes has some of Utada Hikaru's songs! Sakura Drops is a really pretty song, listen to it sometime!

The only characters I own are Nuka and Kirby/Nuka's parents. All others belong to Nintendo.

I own the plot and story line, as well as Metanor's past. I'm sorry I have to state this, but someone stole my idea for the "MK was made by Nightmare through his Immortal Blood" thing, and I wont state names, but I really don't like people stealing things I thought up.

_ChocolateCheese08: _Hope the list helps.  
Thank you, I want it be interesting!  
Well, I'm glad someone likes them.  
Is this soon enough for you?  
Why thank you!

_The one and only;_

_Medalis  
_


	3. Getting Ready for the Journey

A large blue Pengi _(1)_ paced, his hand on his stomach.

"Ooh… I'm so hungry! Someone get me somethin' to eat! NOW!" he whined, looking at a Waddle Dee with a Bandanna on it's head.

"Please excuse me King Dedede, but more food won't arrive until morning." 'Bandanna Dee _(2)_' said, bowing.

"WHAT?! Why not?!" Dedede shouted, whipping his hammer out. Bandanna Dee cowered, but walked closer to his angered king.

"Dream City says that they can't since it's too dark out!" he said, motioning to the dark window outside.

A smile grew over Dedede's face, and he stood fully up, towering over the little Waddle Dee.

"Get the troops, Bandanna Dee. I've gotta plan."

* * *

That night, no one noticed the dark figures that snuck into supermarkets, farms, gardens, and any other place that would hold food. All over Dreamland, food was being brought to one location; Mountain Dedede _(3)_ and the Fortress on it's summit. As the giant group approached it, Dedede laughed.

"That was way too easy!" he laughed to Bandanna Dee, who ran along next to him.

"Sire, if you don't mind me asking, but what's in the bag?" Bandanna Dee asked, his green eyes focused on the brown leather bag in Dedede's hand. The king laughed, looking at the bag proudly.

"The Sparkling Stars! I snatched 'em, so now people'll know to get my food to me when I want it!" he laughed, Bandanna Dee's eyes widening.

"You mean… the Sparkling Stars… are… in that… bag?" he managed to say, amazed.

"Yup." Dedede said, placing the bag in his robe. "And I have the perfect plan to make sure no one takes 'em from me!"

* * *

The People of Dreamland were startled as they awoke to no food anywhere but their fridge. Kirby's mom fainted, and his dad was horrified. Kirby himself was more worried about something else; he had a strange hollow feeling, like something had been taken from him.

He ran to the tower that held the Sparkling Star as fast as his unshoed feet could take him, tripping over knocked down plants and cutting his feet on them. He ran up the steps to find the door hanging on a single hinge, the Sparkling Star gone from it's pedestal.

Kirby slowly walked to the pedestal, which looked so… horrible. It was almost crushed to pieces, and Kirby didn't want to think about what happened to the Sparkling Star. He closed his eyes, tears running down his pink face.

"This… cannot… be… happening…" he said to himself.  
But it was happening; the Sparkling Stars were gone.  
He didn't know where they were.  
He couldn't do anything.  
Dreamland was doomed.

Kirby looked up, clenching his paw. Dreamland was only doomed if no one tried to fight. He needed to fight; his family, friends, and even people he didn't know were counting on the one person that stood up against the thief.

He needed to be that person.  
He would save Dreamland, somehow.

* * *

In the cavern underneath the Fountain of Dreams, the crystal began to shatter, then blew up. Once the smoke cleared; a blue Betamon with large white eyebrows and a scar over his left eye brushed his arm off stood, a smirk on his vampire fanged mouth.

"It was quite small in there… I do not know how longer I could have stood being sealed in that stupid prison." He walked over to a stone, shattering it upon touch.  
Inside were a mask, two golden swords, and a shield. He took the items out, attaching the shield to his glove and placing the swords in their respective sheaths. He walked out of the cavern calmly, torches being extinguished as he walked by them.

"It is time…"

* * *

Kirby ran through the field back to his house, trying to avoid the plants. His mother was still out cold, and his father was trying to calm Nuka, who was crying, down.

Kirby jumped up the stairs to his room, where he dragged his sleeping bag out. He pulled out his sturdiest pair of shoes, a pair of bright red running and climbing shoes, and placed them next to the sleeping bag. He grabbed a brown leather bag, dumping the contents of it and running downstairs, filling it with some food and some money, and running back upstairs.

Kirby's father walked upstairs to the room, and placed Nuka in her bed.

"Kirby, can you watch your sister for a while? I need to try and wake your mother up…" he said, leaving the room. Kirby had hidden his supplies when he first heard the footsteps coming up the stairs, so he was certain his father didn't know.

Kirby grabbed the leather bag and his sleeping bag, placing them in the center of the room. Nuka watched him as he pulled his most prized possessions from under his bed; a long loose green elf cap and a beautifully crafted silver sword _(4)_. He found a sheath, putting the sword in it. He pulled the elf cap over his head, a determined look on his face.

Nuka looked at him sadly, but she understood. She motioned the door, then acted like she was silently crying. Kirby smiled, holding his sister close to him.

"I'll miss you." He said, running into the nearby hall closet with his stuff. Nuka started loudly crying, and Kirby soon heard his parent's feet upon the wooden floor as they neared his room. He ran out of the closet silently and ran downstairs, fighting back tears.

He ran out the door, running towards the end of the farm. Once there, he looked back at the farmhouse that seemed so far away, then forward towards Dream City _(5)_.  
He knew that there he would find out more about whoever stole the Sparkling Stars. With the image of his little sister and the Star in his mind, he set off in a steady walk towards the distant city.

* * *

A female Burning Leo looked around the panicking streets from her apartment window, sighing.  
She waked over to the mirror, checking if she was dressed well enough. She has pulled her pinkish fiery hair back into a ponytail, leaving a few strands of fire to frame her face. Her amethyst eyes glittered like her purple metal headband, a orange gem held in the center of the crown-like garment. She wore a violet kimono that had darker violet flowers on it, and a pair of comfortable purple wooden sandals.

"Mmm, you look excellent today Kimi!" she said to herself, grabbing a violet purse and walking out of her apartment.

* * *

After much walking, Kirby arrived in Dream City. He was panting, thinking things over.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…" he said to himself, shaking his pink head. "But someone's gotta do it." His blue eyes caught a familiar symbol. It was on a flag, which waved in the breeze. He walked up to the bottom of the pole looking at a short wooden building that stood out among the tall buildings.

Kirby smiled, walking in. A few people were sitting at the tables, talking or eating a very small amount of food. He walked over to a table, sitting down and resting his feet. He was tired, and wanted to eat and sleep.

"Hey mister, you wanna order something?" a voice said, snapping Kirby awake.  
"Uh, I'll take the noodles…" he said, rubbing his eyes.  
"K." the waitress said, walking away. Kirby noticed she was a Burning Leo by the way her hair flared up. Then, it hit him.  
"Kimi-ko!" he said, amazed to see one of his old friends. The girl turned around, then figured out who he was.  
"Kirby!" she walked over to his table, sitting down. "It's been so long!"  
"I know! How have you been lately?"

"Good. Life is pretty boring here though. I got a job here at Kawasaki's, and I can meet new people, but Kawasaki isn't the best cooker around, know what I'm sayin? Anyway, how about you? How have ya been?"

"Life is simple but good for me. Keeby is just as much a jerk as before. Nuka turned 7 a while ago. But… someone stole all the food and…"  
"Someone stole the food here too."  
"… They stole… the… Sparkling Star…" Kirby managed to say. Kimi's violet eyes widened.

"Star Rod, that ain't good…_(6)_" she gaped, horrified. Several people looked their way, equally horrified.  
"Aren't the Sparkling Stars… what makes the food?" one girl asked, and Kirby gravely nodded.  
"That means we can't grow any more food!" another girl said, getting up. She ran outside to tell everyone, the other girl following. A man shook his head, his green eyes shining behind his glasses.

"Maybe we have become too lazy and whoever stole all the food took advantage of it." He said, pushing his noodle bowl away. "Maybe we deserve this."  
"How could you say something like that?!" a woman with a young child asked sharply. "Dreamland has done nothing wrong!"  
"It's the same with Atlantis," The man said. "The people became lazy and lax, so the gods punished them by drowning their city into the ocean. Maybe this is a punishment."  
"How is being lax needing punishment?!" the woman snapped, but the man only shook his head sadly.

"Lazy and Gluttony are one of the Seven Sins." He said, getting up and walking out of the restaurant, his hands in his brown worker's jacket pockets. The woman glared at him, holding her child close.  
"Maybe he's right." Kirby said, looking at the door.  
"Of course not!" the woman glared at Kirby, leaving. The child looked at Kirby, his eyes sorry.

"I'm sure she's just scared." Kimi said, her violet eyes sad.  
"We all are." Kirby said, the image of the Sparkling Star, shattered, haunting his thoughts.

* * *

(1) Pengi is a penguin-like enemy that commonly gives the Ice or Freeze ability. Because of their similarity, Dedede will be classified as a Pengi.

(2) Bandanna Dee is a Waddle Dee wearing a Bandanna that appears in Revenge of the King in KSSU. Some people believe that he and 'Sailor Dee' are the same person, but in this fiction they're brother and sister. Also, Bandanna Dee has short spiky blond hair under his bandanna in this fiction.

(3) Mount Dedede is the final "level" of Kirby's DreamLand and Spring Breeze. It houses the final battle for the food. Dedede's Fortress is the main part of the level.

(4) Sound familiar? This is Kirby's Sword form. Don't worry; he gets Copy Abilities later.

(5) Dream City isn't a real level; it's a fan-made Dreamland Capital.

(6) Someone saying 'Star Rod' in a way like that is similar to saying 'Oh my god' or 'Oh lord'. Any other manner is referring to the item itself.

Must… stay… awake… must… (clunk) zzzzz…

(Medalis: … indeed… Anyway, neither me, nor my sleeping self, own any characters you recognize. Nuka, Kirby's Parents, Kimi, and any other characters you don't know belong to Sleeping Beauty here.)

_Starbrook: _He needed one.  
Does this answer your question?  
...

_The one and only...  
Medalis_


	4. The Adventure Begins with a Flare

Kirby paced in Kimi's apartment, trying to figure out who stole the food and Sparkling Stars, why they did it, and where they are now. Of course, he couldn't figure out the last two until he knew who did it, but if he knew where they were he didn't need to know who it was. Maybe if he knew why they did it, he could figure out where they are and who they are.

He sat down, a hand on his head. "Massive headache…"

Kimi walked in with a cot in her paws, and gave him a strange look.

"… I ain't askin'. Here's your cot. We leave first thing tomorrow."

"We?"

"Duh, I ain't leavin' ya to find those Stars alone!" Kimi said, placing her paws on her… shoes. "You'll get killed!"

Kirby opened his mouth to talk, but Kimi's hair flared, so he quickly shut-up.

"Good boy. Now get some sleep." She threw him the cot and walked into her bedroom. The cot hit Kirby on the head, only furthering his headache. He sighed, setting the cot up and lying down on it. Before he fell asleep, the Sparkling Star entered his mind, shattered beyond repair.

No dreams came to Kirby that night.

* * *

That morning, Kirby was awoken by a fiery shout in his ear. He screamed a little, falling off the cot and onto the plush floor. He opened his blue eyes sleepily to a pair of bright purple hiking boots, and looked up.

Kimi seemed to tower over him, her pink fiery hair in a ponytail behind a large safari hat with her headband wrapped around it. She wore a pair of fire resistant gloves, so she wouldn't burn someone. She had a bright purple cloak on, and she managed to pull everything off as fashionable.

"Hurry up and get dressed!" she said, handing Kirby his bag. "I'll be outside buying what we can food wise." With that word, she left.

Kirby shook his head, smiling. "Some things never change."

* * *

When Kirby had finished putting on his shoes, hat, and sheathed sword, he walked out of the building. Kimi was arguing with someone he didn't recognize.

It looked like some sort of Human… only a little squatter. Spiky blonde hair stood up on his head, and two elf-like ears stuck out of the sides of his face. He was wearing a red jumpsuit-like outfit, the arms and legs being white. The creature looked at Kirby, raising a eyebrow as the Betamon walked over.

"And who's this guy?" the creature sharply asked.

"I'm Kirby. Who're you?"

"Knuckles Joe _(1)_, the one and only!" 'Knuckles Joe' responded, smiling proudly. Kirby and Kimi simply stared at him. "…What?"

"Stop being full of yourself! It's bad for you." Kimi snapped. Joe smiled, leaning in.

"So you do care about me…" he said, leaning in closer. Kirby stepped back as Kimi's hair flared, closing his eyes as he continued to back away. He heard Joe shout in pain, then a crash.

Knuckles Joe was on the ground, his hair still a little on fire. He was covered in ash, and looked like he had just stepped out of an explosion. He coughed, blinking.

It was just too much; Kirby fell over laughing. Kimi shot a glare at him, so he stopped.

"Well Joe, I hope that explains everything to you." She said, her hair returning to it's normal safer state.

"For course! You love me, but you're too shy to admit it!" Joe said, getting up and smiling.

Kimi responded by setting him on fire again.

* * *

Kirby placed a hand on Knuckles Joe's shoulder, shaking his head slowly.

"I don't think she likes you." He said, putting out Joe's hair with a glass of water.

"She's shy." Joe responded. He crossed his arms, looking at Kirby. "I've never seen you before, but from that hat you must from a forest."

"It was my grandfather's." Kirby responded, shifting the elf hat. "But I'm from the farm with the Sparkling Star."

"So… does that mean it true? That the Star's been stolen?"

Kirby remained silent, unable to answer. He stood up fully, and looked at Kimi. "We should get going."

She nodded, grabbing her bag. Kirby grabbed his own bag and started to follow her, Joe watching them.

"Hey, where are you guys… er, guy and girl… going?" he jumped up and followed them.

"To find the Sparkling Stars." Kirby said, turning around to look at Joe. He smiled, pounding his hand into his other palm.

"You're gonna need a heavy hitter then! Consider Knuckles Joe at your service!"

"What!? No!" Kimi glared at the human-like boy, her hair rising in temperature. Kirby looked at her, his mouth growing into a smile.

"Kimi, I think it's a good idea. After all; how much do and me know about fighting? What if we come across a enemy that's good at fighting?" Kirby said, smiling. Kimi rolled her eyes, but sighed in defeat.

"Fine."

* * *

Dedede couldn't help but laugh. It was so funny watching the Dreamlanders run around screaming while he ate as much as he wanted.

"Bandanna Dee, ain't this great?" he said, laughing.

"It is, sire." Bandanna Dee said, his lips twitching in a smile. Dedede burped loudly, and ordered more food.

"You heard him! Get the king more food!" Bandanna Dee said into his walky-talky. A female Waddle Dee with long golden hair pulled back into a ponytail ran into the room, holding a platter. She placed it on the table in front of the king, not bothering to bow as she turned away.

"Hey!" Dedede called out, so the girl turned. "You need ta' respect your king!"

"You're no King." She said, walking out. Bandanna Dee ran and caught her, frowning.

"Hoshi _(2)_, you shouldn't be so rude to the king." He said, taking his sister's arm.

"Delroy _(3)_, you should leave me alone." Hoshi said mockingly, pulling away. She walked away in a huff, but Delroy followed.

"Come on Sis, why do you hate King Dedede so much?" he asked when she stopped and glared at him with her bright blue eyes.

"Just because you're his right-hand-lackey and live in luxury doesn't mean the rest of us do!" they both knew who 'us' was. It was the other Waddle Dees and servants.

Hoshi waited for a response, but Delroy was interrupted just as he was about to speak.

"BANDANNA DEE!!!" Dedede shouted from the throne room. "GET IN HERE!!"

"Coming sire!" he ran for the door, looking back at his sister once more before disappearing into the throne room.

Hoshi stood where she was, sighing, and walked out onto a nearby balcony. She untied her hair, and the light breeze makes it fan out behind her round auburn back. She sighed again, looking up at the stars.

Suddenly, one star streaked across the sky in a flash of light, making Hoshi gasp. She clasped her hands in front of her, and looked up.

"I wish… that someone would whisk me away from this castle, someone who's a way better person than Dededork." Hoshi wished, unknowing that someone behind her had such ideas. His golden eyes glowed brightly as she whipped around at look at him, her eyes wide in surprise.

* * *

Kirby, Kimi, and Knuckles Joe continued walking towards the distant forest, their feet swore.

"Okay, let's take a break." Kimi said, stopping and setting her bag down. Joe agreed by flopping down on the grass, groaning. Kirby glanced at the forest, thinking.

"If we're gonna stop, let's set up camp. It'll be another days walk until we reach the forest." He said, sitting down. Joe reached into his bag, but Kirby stopped him.

"We should eat the food from the trees, save the rest for later." He said, looking at a nearby fruit tree. He puffed up, and knocked a few pieces down. The three ate in silence, Kirby lost in thought.

"Kirby?" Kimi said softly, her eyes focused on the fire she made. Kirby looked up, but his blue eyes remained distant.

"Yeah?"

"How… do you know we're going the right way?" she asked, her amethyst eyes looking up at him. He met her halfway, one pair of blue eyes burning fiercely into timid violet cat eyes.

"I just know. There's a Sparkling Star nearby; I can feel it." He said, looking at the forest. "But… something else is… wrong…"

"What do you mean?" Joe looked up, adding himself into the conversation.

"I feel…" Kirby sighed, looking at his friends. "I should explain something to you guys."

* * *

(1) Knuckles Joe is a Helper and Enemy from Kirby Super Star and it's remake. He is one of the only helpers to retain his original name, since 'Knuckles Joe' doesn't seem like a species name.  
(2) Hoshi is Japanese for Star, and it's a Female name too! Hoshi later changes her name; but I wont tell you what it is. She's Sailor Dee, if you didn't guess. BTW: Sailor Dee is a Waddle Dee that was in Revenge of Meta Knight, and stayed behind with Meta Knight as the ship crashed. What happened to her/him is unknown.  
(3) Delroy is a English name for 'Servant of the King'. This is Bandanna Dee's real name in this fiction.

No characters belong to me other than Kimi, Nuka, Kirby's Parents, and other unrecognizable characters. All others are of HAL.

_Kirby163: _Look at (2).

_The one and only  
Medalis_


	5. The Chapter with no Name

"You see…for some reason, I can sort of 'communicate' with the Sparkling Star. I'm not sure how… but it shows me things. Like past wars and battles I've never heard of." Kirby said, his blue eyes seeming to change color.

"So?" Knuckles Joe gave him an uninterested look, yawning. Kimi punched him in the ribs, then urged Kirby to continue.

"It had a habit of showing me this one person… a dark blue Betamon, with, and here's the weird part, GOLD eyes, creepy mask, wings, and two glowing swords. Whoever it is, something just tells me they have something to do with the Sparkling Stars and the Fountain of Dreams, maybe even the Star Rod!"

Kimi and Joe looked at him oddly, both with strange looks on their faces. They looked at each other as if questioning the other, but looked at Kirby again.

"… Let's get some sleep. We have a long day tomorrow." Kimi finally said, changing the subject.

"No argument here." Joe flopped on the ground, and started snoring. Kimi sighed as she pulled her sleeping bag and climbed inside, quietly falling asleep.

Kirby looked up at the stars, his mind drifting. He sighed, grabbing his sleeping bag and crawling in. Sleep came quickly, pulling him into peaceful oblivion. Before his conscious mind drifted away, he thought he heard maniacal laughter.

* * *

Hoshi looked at the Betamon, her face showing a hint of fear.

"Who the heck are you?!" she asked sharply, narrowing her blue eyes. The dark figure chuckled, his eyes hidden by the mask as he walked closer to her. He was a bit taller than her; six inches at the most.

"You may call me Meta Knight _(1)_…" He said, bowing politely. His voice was raspy; as if he hadn't had a drink of water in a long time, yet strangely was gentleman-like.

"I-I'm Hoshi." Hoshi stammered, the 'knight' in front of her causing her heartbeat to pick up. He chuckled, seeing her red face.

"Is something about me bothering you, little star_ (2)_?" he asked, suddenly next to her. She jumped, surprised. In response to his question, she shook her head. One golden orb appeared in his V-shaped mask slit, making her jump again.

The eye were different than any other Hoshi had ever seen; there was no pupil, but instead a second oval, distinct by a large thick black outline, took the place of it. She noticed it was on his left side, as if a second eye was meant to be on the other side.

"What is the matter, child? You are staring at me strangely." He asked, his eye seeming to glare at her.

"I-It's n-nothing." She said, adverting her gaze. He appeared on the railing behind her, but she didn't jump. "H-how?"

Meta Knight seemed to smile, his eyes flickering neon pink. "Heheh… I'm not like any other Popstarian_ (3)_ you'll ever meet."

"What do you want with me?" she asked, taking a step backward away from the 'knight'.

"I overheard your wish… you want someone to steal you away from here…" he said, his voice coming from right behind her. "Someone better than 'Dedede'…"

"I-I didn't mean--" she felt his glove on her shoulder, which suddenly went numb.

"Do not make wishes you do not want to come true." He whispered in her ear, the young Waddle Dee frozen in fear. She felt reality slipping away, and her blue eyes closed as she collapsed into his arms.

Meta Knight looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms, the smirk on his lips growing. A small tornado gathered around the two, and they disappeared as it reached the sky, the stars flickering above it.

* * *

The blue blob slowly woke up, groaning. In front of him was a pink blob with a ribbon on her head, her black eyes looking at him worriedly.

"Gooey _(4)_, thank the Star Rod you're okay!" She hugged the blob, tears running down her formless body.

"Ngh… what happened… where are we?" Gooey asked, looking sleepily at his surroundings.

"The Hospital! I brought you here because you were unconscious in the shed, and I was worried that you were dead or something!" the girl sobbed, making a puddle on the white sheets.

"Blob_ (5)_, will you stop crying? I'm drowning here." Gooey said, squirming his formless body out of his sister's grip. She let go.

"Sorry… I just--" she began, tears gathering her black eyes.

"Just don't start crying." He asked, his eyes half closed with embarrassment.

"How couldn't I?! You were out for two days! TWO DAYS!!" she said, hysterical. But Gooey wasn't listening, he was thinking about the strange vision.

"Gooey? Hello, PopStar to Gooey? Anyone in there?" Blob looked at him, confused about his blank golden eyes. He looked up at her.

"Hey bro, are you okay?"

"… I'm fine, don't worry Blob." Even as he said these words, the sound of cackling reached his ears, unheard by anyone but him.

* * *

(1) Do I need to explain who this is? Oh well… Meta Knight is a boss from most of the games and important semi-main character in the Anime. He was made when Masahiro Sakurai was 22 (and Meta will mention that's how old he is), who created the first design (same basic look, only a pallet swap) three years after Kirby's own. 'Meta Knight' is most likely not his real name (who would name their kid Meta Knight anyway?!), and it supposedly means 'A knight about knights' (does that mean Kadame from Vampire Knight is a MetaVampire?). That obviously does not relate at all to this Meta Knight in this fiction (which should be interpreted as 'with something' or 'post' in our terms), and the 'Dreamlandic' term will be explained later.

(2) 'Little Star' is how Meta Knight refers to Hoshi in a pet name form, since her name means 'star' and that she's smaller than he is. BTW; If I didn't mention this before, Hoshi is 18 (the pilot for their meeting was where she was 16).

(3) Popstarian is the term for someone who lives on/in Popstar.

(4) Gooey is a character that first appeared as an unlockable helper in Kirby's Dreamland 2, and as a normal helper in Dreamland 3. He's made of the same basic make-up as Dark Matter, but he's a good guy. By the looks of it, Gooey in the games is a lot like Big from the Sonic Games. This version of Gooey is a lot different; being quiet and serious, and having a high IQ. More will be explained later.

(5) Blob is Gooey's younger sister. I gave her the basic 'emotional little sister' personality. She's pink in this fiction, while she's a little lighter color of gray in the games then Kirby (Dreamland 2 had no actual color, ya know).

Sorry bout the shortness of the chapter. I wanted to start Green Greens next chapter, and I didn't know what to do next to complete my new '1000+ words a chapter' rule.

I bet some of you are wondering about why the characters are so different. Well, in order NOT to push myself to another ON HOLD fiction, I had to mold the characters. I even made new designs for what they look like, like Metanor/Meta Knight over there.

_Kirby163: _Anytime.  
I'm glad; I like writing it.  
Can't leave him out, can I?

_Starrgrl24: _Then I welcome you to  
Thanks!  
Not only Kirby, but also a whole bunch of other character's pasts.

_The one and only;  
Medalis _

(Medalis; ... I'm the real Medalis.  
Me: Just shut up.)


	6. The Falling Apples that Hurt like Heck

_The Next Day…_

"THIS STUPID FOREST NEVER ENDS! _(1)_" Knuckles Joe looked ready to tear his own yellow hair out in frustration. "Where is that Star Rod damn Sparkling Star?!"

"Joe, shh!" Kimi glared at him, her feet just as sore as the other two's own.

"I know that one of the Sparkling Stars is here in this forest!" Kirby said, looking in each bush.

"Do you--" Joe cut off as something hit him on the head. "Ouch!"

"What is it this time Jo--" something hit Kimi too on her back, then was fried by her hair. "Who threw it!?"

"Who threw what?" Kirby asked, then was hit on the head with a apple. "Ouch!"

More and more hard apples rained down on the travelers, resulting in more 'Ouch!'s and several curse words thrown in by Joe. The small group ran, but the apples seemed to follow them and the trees seemed endless. After a while, they had to stop and catch their breath. Another apple hit Joe's head, who was already angry and had a twitchy eye.  
"NOW I'M PISSED!" he grabbed a apple and threw it into a tree, resulting in a pain filled voice. The apples stopped, leaving a very confused three Dreamlanders. Joe picked up another apple and threw it into the same tree. A voice similar to the first cried out.

Two heads poked out of the tree, glaring at the small group.

"Hey, why'd ya knock our friends out?!" one said, hanging upside down in the tree.

"Yeah, what'd they do to you?!" the other said, the heads being the only visible body part of both. Kirby, Kimi, and Knuckles Joe looked at each other with confused and blank stares.

"We were just being pelted with apples…" Kimi said, walking underneath the two, her hair's flame threatening to reach and scorch the two creatures. Two more heads appeared, each with a black eye.

"Hey, where's the fire?" one asked.  
"Other than the cat chick's head." The other finished.

"Excuse me?!" Kimi hissed, her hair burning hotter.

"These guys threw the apples at us!" the first head said, looking at the two new heads.  
"But weren't we throwing apples at them?" a fifth head appeared.  
"So?" the second head said.  
"Yeah, so?" the third and fourth echoed.  
"Well, I guess we deserved it." The fifth head looked at the dumbfounded boys and the steaming girl. "No we didn't!" the other four shouted. Kirby and Joe looked at each other stupidly, slowly following. "Why not?" the fifth asked, a hand appearing that pointing at the near identical heads.  
"Because we don't have flaming heads, freaky hairdos, or plain boring hair!"

"…" Kirby, Joe, and Kimi looked at each other with bored expressions. They left the clearing.

"Huh? Where'd they go?"

* * *

"Let's never speak of what just happen ever again." Kimi said, looking at her friends. They nodded.

"K." Joe picked up an apple, and took a bite.

"This ain't half bad, considering it hurt like hell." He said, eating the apple and grabbing a few more. Kimi shrugged, following his example. Kirby took his sword and sliced through a dozen or so for himself, which he ate in one big gulp without chewing. Kimi and Joe looked at him, their jaws slightly ajar.

"… What?" Kirby asked, repeating his process with a dozen more apples. Joe rolled his eyes, looking up at the sky. Kimi continued to stare, lost in her thoughts.

"I've never seen you eat so much." She said, almost as if she was thinking out loud.

"Huh… I guess you're right." Kirby said, wiping his sword off on the soft grass underneath his feet. "I've been feeling really hungry lately… I almost ate a wheelbarrow once."

Kimi looked up at him, alarmed. Joe laughed, craning his neck forward.

"I gotta hear this one." He said, pitching his apple core behind him. Someone cried out in pain, and an elf walked out of the bushes.

"Would you kindly watch where you throw those? Jeez!" the elf snapped at a dumbfounded Knuckles Joe.

The elf himself was pale skinned with shiny blond hair that stuck up from under his elfin hat. Two green eyes glanced around, clashing with his pink elfin attire. A large yellow belt matched his elfin shoes, while two flouting mitten-like hands flouted in a crossed-arms manner.

Joe looked uncertain as what to respond with, but he looked up at the darkening sky. "Do you know where a village is?"

"Yeah, I was heading to one just now." The elf said, smiling. "Want me to take you there for the night?"

"Yes!" all three tired travelers said, nodding. The elf smiled again, walking into the bushes. He looked back.

"Well? Come on!"

* * *

It seemed like hours to Kirby. His feet were sore and probably blistered, and he was sure that if they were blistered that they were bleeding.

No light filtered down from the sky, due to the leafy canopy. Yet they could see where they were walking. Kirby picked up his pace and walked next to their elf guide.

"Excuse me Mr…" he started, yet stopped due to not knowing the elf's name.

"Aluin. _(2)_" The elf stated, looking Kirby in the face.

"Aluin, are the trees… glowing?" It seemed true; the tree's leaves seemed to glow and sparkle. Even the leaf-litter had a sparkle to it.

Aluin laughed. "Observant, aren't ya?" he didn't say anything more. Kirby looked behind him to Kimi and Knuckles Joe. Joe seemed ready to collapse, his head hung low in exhaustion.

Kimi was glancing around, her hair hidden under her hat so nothing would catch fire. She looked down, hugging herself, violet eyes dully focused on the ground.

"Kimi-Chan?" Kirby backtracked, walking next to his friend. "Are you okay?"

"I—I'm fine…" Kimi said, her dull eyes focusing on Kirby. She locked eyes with him, noticing the strange flickering color to the once royal blue irises. He looked away, his eyes seeming to change to green.

"I know you well enough that you're not okay." He said, sounding older than he was. "If you're afraid of setting something on fire, don't worry. I'm personally wondering if we're lost."

Their guide stopped suddenly, making Joe crash into him.

"Hey, why the hell did ya stop?!" Joe said, getting up and glaring. Aluin raised a hand as if trying to tell them to quiet. They did so. A roar pierced the silence of the woods, followed by what sounded like something big running towards them.

"Everyone, get in the trees!" Aluin sprinted and jumped into the nearest tree franticly. The roaring got closer. Kirby flouted up into a tree, while Joe climbed with ease. Kimi was left on the ground, unable to get up onto a branch. Something big crashed through the bushes, releasing a roar of pure rage.

It was a cream colored bear with two red stripes on its back. A red headband was wrapped around it's head, just above it's beady golden eyes.  
It looked at Kimi, then charged at her, roaring.

* * *

(1) Knuckles Joe needs Anger Management.

(2) Aluin means 'Elf Friend'. I pronounce it like Al-LU-an. Probably not the way it should be, but who cares?

School starts tomorrow, so I'm only gonna be able to post once and while, when I get the chance. Oh, and poll! Vote for your favorite two Main characters!

By the way, age change! _(Medalis; that rhymed)_

**Kirby; **13**  
Kimi; **14**  
Knuckles Joe; **16**  
Nuka; **3**  
Gooey; **15**  
Blob; **7**  
Meta Knight; **22 (Physical), a couple thousand years (Do you know how long he spent in that crystal?)**  
Hoshi; **18**  
Delroy (Bandanna Dee); **18**  
Dedede; **25 (What'daya know. He's physically older than MK. Zoi.)

_Starrgrl24:_ I go to bed at 2 am almost every day. Ha.  
I guess it matters what your perception of 'bad guy' is.

_Kirby163:_ Waitin' for someone to notice that. I call it 'Naming Block'.  
'Dazzled'? More like 'Head over Heels' or 'Crush the size of Alaska'.  
They're pretty important to the story. Well… Gooey is. Blob's a supporting character… I think.

bdun: True, he said that. But Sailor Dee stayed behind, you see her saying 'ba-dum' some time before you and Meta Knight duke it out.

Anonymous: I ain't. XD  
Thanks, and yes they show up. At least for me they do.

_Sincerely…  
Medalis_


	7. The Dark Kingdom and Whispy Woods

Kimi screamed as the bear charged at her, feeling too frightened to run. She heard the bear roar in anger, and opened her eyes.  
Kirby held his sword at arm's length, panting. A large gash was on top of the bear's head, having almost sliced through the headband. The bear growled, baring sharp teeth.

"Kimi, get in the tree." Kirby softly said, his blue eyes flickering to look at her. She nodded, scrambling up the trunk of the tree.

The bear started to circle Kirby, figuring out how to kill it's prey. The Betamon frowned, looking for a weak spot. He didn't know much about fighting, but he knew about what to do if a bear attacks. If you can't scare it away, you have to aim for the belly. That would kill the bear, and he didn't want to do that. Something told him that the bear didn't mean to do this; someone else was using it as a puppet.  
The bear roared, lunging forward. Kirby dodged, jumping into a tree. He flipped, jumping on the bear's back. It roared, bucking like a bull. Kirby grabbed the headband and held on for dear life. The bear stamped around the trees, trying to get it's unwanted rider off.  
The bear ran into a tree, and fell over. Kirby cringed, but plunged his sword into the bear's underbelly. It roared one last time before falling dead, the beady golden eyes turning black. Kirby felt tears coming to his eyes; he had just killed something.

Suddenly, black mist erupted out of the bear, making Kirby stumble backwards. It swirled for a second, then flew away.

"Kirby!" Kimi's voice seemed distant, and he barely saw her as she ran up to him.  
"KIRBY!!!" her voice was drowned out by dark laughter as the young Betamon lost consciousness.

* * *

"_Kirby…_" Kirby heard his name, slowly waking up. He could smell a something bitter; something so strong he could taste it. He subconsciously licked his lips, trying to rid himself of the horrible taste.

"He is awake. Would someone tell the Queen and his friends?" the voice said, and he recognized it as female. Kirby struggled to open his eyes, groaning.

In front of him was… a fairy_ (1)_. She had long pink hair, tied back with a blue ribbon. Two large jade eyes peered at him, her expression emotionless. A green dress with a yellow sash covered most of her body, leaving a small pair of hands and two emerald feet sticking out.  
He didn't know what to do; Fairies weren't supposed to exist. She turned away from him, the two translucent wings on her back fluttering. The fairy walked over to a cabinet, taking out several bottles with green muck in them.

Kirby inched away, the smell repulsing him. The fairy smiled, amused at his reaction. She walked up to him, taking his wrist.

"Do not worry. It is only ointment." She said, rubbing the green goo onto a scrape on his wrist. He flinched, his eyes for a spilt second turning brown.

"Kirby?" he heard Kimi's voice as she walked into the room.

"Kimi, what's going on?" he asked his friend, avoiding the fairy when he jumped off the bed. "Where are we?"

"I don't really know, but this is where that elf guy brought us." She said, turning to face the door. "Come on, some fairy girl apparently wants to see you."

"Did I hear a hint of jealousy in that tone?" Kirby said in a light mocking tone, raising an eyebrow. Kimi glared at him, her purple eyes flashing.

"… Just hurry up."

* * *

Hoshi groaned, opening her eyes. She was in some sort of room made of dark gray metal. The bed she was laying on was a bit stiff, but better than what she had at the castle. She got up, walking to an open window on her left. Outside was a large city, but it didn't particularly look like a city. It looked like the ancient Dreamland villages _(2)_ she had seen only in books, only darker. People wandered the streets, wearing dark cloaks that almost hid them from view upon the stone streets. The sky was filled with ominous red clouds that seemed block out any form of sunlight.  
Hoshi felt horrible amazement at this place. It had a sense of immortal gloom and despair that came with the hidden sun and lack of light. She heard light clicking of some sort of armor, and the door opened then closed. She turned around to see none other than Meta Knight walking towards her, his single golden eye focused on her. She prepared to speak, but he held up a hand.

"I know that you wish to know who I am, where we are, and why I took you from Dreamland." He said, his eye becoming shrouded in shadow and disappearing from sight.  
"…" Hoshi didn't respond. How he knew what she had been think was beyond her, but she waited for him to tell her.

"I am Meta Knight, leader and ruler of this island. I already told you why I took you from Dreamland; I don't like to repeat myself." He said, looking out the window.

"Where is 'this Island'?" Hoshi spoke up, refusing to stand next to the 'knight'. He chuckled, motioning to the village with his claw-like hand.

"This is the Forbidden Island _(3)_." He said, watching the creatures below wander. Hoshi's eyes widened. She had heard of Forbidden Island; every Dreamlander did. She shook her head in disbelief.

"The Forbidden Island doesn't exist. Just like the places on it…" she said, narrowing her eyes. Meta Knight chuckled, shaking his head.  
"I beg to differ." He motioned for her to look out upon the scenery. She did so, standing next to her kidnapper. For some reason, she felt comfortable around him.

"Welcome to the Dark Kingdom _(4)_."

* * *

Kirby followed Kimi as they walked on swinging bridges in the trees. A few fairies and elves waved to them, so he waved back.

"Kimi, just who wants ta' see me?" he finally asked, looking at his silent friend.

"Some girl. She seems to know you." Kimi simply said, her eyes gazing at the starry sky above. "She called you a Star."

Kirby was taken aback. Betamon have a rough star shape, but not enough to characterize them like so. "…Why?"

"I don't know." She said. Both friends were silent for the rest of the trip. They descended some wooden stairs that were somehow attached to a tree, and touched upon the dirt floor beneath the towering trees.

Looking around, Kirby noticed the trees formed a circle around a center oak. Something about it was awe-inspiring, almost mystical. Under the center oak, a well-dressed fairy that seemed to be looking at one spot on the tree. She turned to them, revealing bright icy blue eyes. Her blonde hair hung loose around a purple gown, and instead of translucent 'fly' wings, a pair of monarch butterfly wings shifted.

"I see you have awakened, Kirby." She stated, bending down to look him in the face. "Are you feeling better?"

"Why do you want to know?" Kirby asked, crossing his arms. "I don't ever recall telling you my name, and my friends didn't either. What gives?"

She smiled, getting up. "I met you when you were but a baby. As for who I am…" She motioned to the tree, smiling.

"I am Titania, Queen of the Poppies of Whispy Woods _(5)_."

* * *

(1) No, different fairies than the fairies in Kirby 64.

(2) Comparable with Japanese Feudal Villages.

(3) Fan Made Island, sort of a mythical place. More info later.

(4) Originally called "Dark Island", changed to Dark Kingdom to refer to the place itself. More information later.

(5) Whispy Woods is a boss from most of the Kirby games, and a forest in the Anime is named after him, being called 'The King of the Forest'.

_Starrgrl24: _Then you should listen to the Transformers the Movie Score, because _Optimus _is an awesome song. I remember I used to play Ode to Joy, but it's been a while.  
I felt like we needed comic relief, since the next few chapters are kinda serious. And yes, homework is evil.  
I wish you luck and good grades.

Anonymous: I try.  
All three.  
Hope you keep enjoying the story, then.

_Kirby163: _Yes.

_ChocolateCheese08: _(Chapter 3 review) Thank you, but can you simply next time review the last chapter and put in all the comments? It makes things a lot easier for me.  
(Chapter 4 review) Heh, been waiting for someone to notice that. But yes, Kimi is based off KimiKo from Xaolin Showdown. If the name is Sailor Dee, then you are incorrect.  
(Chapter 5 review) Dang what?  
(Chapter 6 review) … does this answer your question? And that bear is called a Grizzo.

_Medalis Out!_


	8. The Dream of the Dark Lord

"That's… impossible. Poppies _(1)_ disappeared a long time ago." Stated a very confused Kirby. Titania simply smiled, looking at the large tree.

"My ancestor brought the Poppies here to hide when the Dark Lord _(2)_ attacked Dreamland, and so we have hid here all this time." She said, motioning to the two young Dreamlanders. "Enough of the past, come with me. I will see if I can arrange quarters for you and your friends to rest."

She patted the tree, then walked away. Kirby and Kimi looked at each other, then followed the Fairy Queen.

* * *

Kirby and Kimi followed Titania through the bridges in the trees, ducking every so once and a while to avoid a tree branch. They reached a small wooden hut that had a leafy roof and seemed to be part of the tree itself.

"You and your friends can stay here for a while, if you so wish." Titania said, opening the leafy door, so Kirby looked in.

The room was made of wood, while three leafy hammocks hung from the ceiling. A small pot with a yellow flower was in the windowsill, and it seemed to move and look at them. Two large blue eyes stared at them sweetly _(3)_.

"Hi!" the flower said, making Kirby and Kimi jump back. The flower continued to smile, and motioned to the snoring Joe with a leafy hand.

"He with you?" she, at least it seemed to be a girl, said. Kimi shook her head and Kirby nodded. The flower giggled, a leaf moving to her mouth.

"Oh! Queen Titania! I didn't notice you, your highness." The flower bowed, her stem bending at the center and a leaf moving to the bend. "What may I do for you, your majesty?"

Titania smiled warmly, motioning to Kirby, Kimi, and the snoring Joe. "I would like you to help our friends, Floretta _(4)_." She said, walking out of the hut without a final word.

"Well, the queen's wish is my command!" Floretta said, beaming positively. "… So… what's up?"

Kirby jumped into one of the cots, and watched as Kimi backed away from the flower and took the cot in the middle off the room. Suddenly a small green bird _(5)_ landed in the window, whispered something to Floretta, and flew away.

"You guys had better sleep, since Queen Titania wants to talk to you in the morning." The flower swayed as she spoke. Joe snorted and fell off his cot. He got up, rubbing his head.

"What's going on?" he asked sleepily, looking around.

"Just go back to sleep, Knucklehead."

* * *

_Kirby was at home again. He glanced around his room, surprised that Nuka wasn't in her bed. He ran out of the room, jumping down the stairs, calling for his family. No one responded. Everything looked the same, but felt different. Colder, and empty._

_Kirby ran out the door, and repressed the urge to scream. Blood fell from the sky like rain, the crops dead and gray, while the sky was a churning crimson. The green and brown earth was cracked and gray, and no grass grew on this dead soil. _

_Although Dream City was distant, he could see the crumbling skyscrapers. Tears streamed down his face, as more rain fell. He fell to the ground, his tears harmonious with the rain. _

_Footsteps alerted him to another presence. They stopped, and out of the top of his eyes he could see bloodstained purple armor boots. He looked up into a masked face, the top covered by snow-white hair. A single red eye gazed evenly at him from the shadows of the mask. _

"_**Heh heh heh… how does it feel to be totally alone?**__" the creature asked, his raspy voice slicing the air like a knife through butter. Kirby couldn't respond; he couldn't find his voice, or move. _

"_**No one to help you… no one to comfort you… no one to save you from the darkness.**__" The being started to walk in a circle around him, similar to a animal closing in on it's prey. "__**You are alone, Kirby.**__"_

"_**Face it; no one cares for a freak. You are better off following my rule, following the one who would accept you.**__"_

"_I'm… not… a… freak…" Kirby managed to say, struggling to move. _

"_**You and I are of the same coin, two sides, two polar opposites. Yet in a way, we are the same.**__" _

"_Shut… up…" _

"_**Heh heh heh heh… do not ignore what is truth, ignore what is false. I can assure you; we are not false.**__"_

"_W-we? I don't… know… who you… are."_

"_**Why, I am you, Kirby. You are me, I am you, yet we are not each other.**__" The creature grabbed Kirby by the throat, shoving him against a building. He tried to pry the claws that sealed off his air, but they only tightened. _

"_**Once you are dead, I will exist. Darkness will take it's rightful throne over the universe, and light will disappear as Darkness had before it.**__" _

"_**Farewell, Dream Warrior.**__" Kirby felt a sword pierced his flesh and cackling fill his mind. _

* * *

He awoke with a start, sitting up in his cot. Kirby placed a shaking hand against his forehead, breathing heavily. He could feel the place where the sword sliced through him, and his hand flew there. Nothing.

Kirby let out a sigh of relief. He hopped out of the cot, grabbing his stuff and walking out the door. He looked up to the stars, which were fading in the approach of the sun. He sighed, walking through the leafy village and down the stairs to the large tree in the center of the clearing. To his surprise, Titania was there, staring up to the center off the tree. She looked at him with her warm icy blue eyes, nodding to him as a greeting.

"… you are on a quest for the Sparkling Stars, are you not?" she suddenly asked, looking at him. Kirby nodded.

"Why?"  
"… For my sister, my family, for the people of Dreamland. For Dreamland itself, I guess." He responded, looking at the dusty soil.

"I know where one star is, but I will only give it to you if you complete my challenge." Titania said, turning her gaze to the tree. He jumped, looking at her, surprised.

"What's the challenge?" Kirby asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Defeat our two best warriors; alone."

* * *

(1) Poppies were originally Poppy Bros., but since there's females, I changed it to simply Poppies. The males are elves, and the females are fairies. The ones on RippleStar are a different tribe, yet are the same basic species.

(2) No reference to Ganondork, if that's what you thought. The Dark Lord and Nightmare Warrior are the same creature too, just the name was changed.

(3) This is a enemy from several of the games; mainly Super Star Ultra and the older games, named Lovely. It has a "sub-species" featured in _Revenge of the King_ called Rose Lovely.

(4) Floretta is Latin for Little Flower.

(5) That's Pitch, a helper from Dreamland 3 (which is out on the Virtual Console for 800 Wii points; go buy it.)

Gah, I was just at the doctor's office. Evidentially I may have a bladder infection or some cut on my stomach that sounds Hungarian. I'll find out at least Monday. For three days or so, I've been at home in bed. I haven't really felt good enough to write anything, so this was postponed.  
BTW: I've given Hoshi a theme song; It's _Away from Me_ by _Evanescence_.  
Anyway, onto the reviews!

Anonymous: Thank you ^^

_Kirby163: _Welcome ^^

_ChocolateCheese08: _It's okay.  
Come on, I want ta' see what people think the name's gonna be!  
You did, I think it was in the Chapter One review?

_Starrgrl24: _I remember that episode. Gawd, I haven't watched Spongebob in… six, seven months?  
Yeah, I think the fairy thing confused everyone…  
"What the heck!" what?  
Can we say "Crush the Size of Russia"? … do you disapprove of Hoshi X Meta?

_StarBrook: _Sorry I was posting this ^^'  
Kirby=Clueless XD  
Was the "fiery" part a pun? (Kimi: Hey!)  
…Maybe…  
I know, crappy and unoriginal, but I couldn't think of anything else! If you have a idea, feel free to tell me.

Bdun: "_In Revenge of Meta Knight, there is an unnamed Waddle Dee clad in a sailor hat (thus nicknamed 'Sailor Dee') that serves Meta Knight. He stays on board the Halberd, and watches Meta Knight fight Kirby as the other crew members leave. Although this Waddle Dee's fate after the fight is unknown._" – from KirbyWiki.  
I rest my case and drop the conversation.

_Hoping I feel better;  
Medalis_


	9. The Poppies' Challenge Part 1

"Defeat our two best warriors; alone." Titania said, turning to face him, her eyes solemn. Kirby simply stood there for a moment, unable to speak. He looked down, turning away from the Queen to think. His eyes flashed green and blue, thoughts running through his mind. He narrowed his eyes, and looked at the Fairy Queen, determination in his flashing blue eyes.

"I accept your challenge." Kirby said, turning to face the Queen again. She smiled softly, as if she knew that was what he was going to say.

"At midday, be here and ready to fight. I wish you luck." Titania said, looking at the tree again, finished with speaking with Kirby. He nodded, walking back to his hut. He felt like there was a stone of anticipation in the pit of his stomach.

When the young Dreamlander left, Titania spoke.

"Whispy-Dono, do you think Kirby will be ready in time? That he can really be…" she asked, a face forming on the large tree.

"I know he will. He is the Dream Warrior_ (1)_; we must prepare him." The tree quietly responded, his pitch black eyes staring blankly at the Fairy Queen. She nodded.

"It's just… he's so young…"

"It is for the best."

* * *

"You _what_?!" Kimi asked, her hair rising in temperature.

"I accepted her challenge." Kirby repeated, swatting a few brown hair strands out of his face. "I need to get the Sparkling Stars, and they have one. It's' the only way."

"You don't know how to fight! You'll get yourself killed!" Kimi grabbed his shoulders, shaking him.

"He did pretty well beating up that bear." Knuckles Joe cut in, hanging upside down from his cot. Kimi pointed at him glaring.

"You- shut up. You-" she pointed at Kirby. "-Are a idiot. Every myth and legend about Poppies _(2)_ I've heard has mentioned that they're excellent fighters. You can barely hold that sword right."

"I'll figure something out." Kirby said, glancing at his sword. "I know a few techniques."

"Not enough to defeat two strong warriors!"

"I'll—ugh! Help me out here Joe!" Kirby glanced at his upside down friend, who only shrugged.

"I help you, I catch on fire." Joe simply said, crossing his arms.

"Traitor."

"Just lookin' out for number one."

"Will you two get serious?!" Kimi shouted, startling the other three in the room. "Floretta, who's Kirby gonna fight?!"

"Hmm…" the flower moved a leaf to her mouth, as if thinking. "Probably Oberon as the first."

"Do you have a Shakespeare _(3)_ too?" Joe asked absently, raising an eyebrow. The flower ignored him.

"Who's the second guy?" Kimi asked, calming down. But Floretta shook her head, frowning.

"I can't tell." She said, casting a look of pity towards Kirby. "But it will take everything you have, Kirby."

* * *

_At Noon_…

Kirby stepped into the clearing, noticing that the entire village must have gathered.

"Good luck Kirby!" a voice shouted out, and when Kirby looked at who it was, Aluin waved. He simply smiled and continued walking. He stopped at the near center of the large grassy patch, glancing around and shifting his elfin hat nervously.

It seemed like forever, but soon Titania entered the clearing with another elfin creature behind her. The unrecognizable elf stopped a couple of feet away from Kirby, and Titania stopped between them. In her hand was a beautifully crafted silver spear, which she placed in a position as to stop the two from attacking each other.

"You may not use outside help; other than that, it is a free for all." She said, glancing at the two. "Please shake hands."

They did so, the elf smiling confidently.

"Now, Oberon…" she looked at the elf, then at Kirby. "Kirby…"

"Start the Battle!"

* * *

Oberon sprinted forward, a bomb materializing in his hand. He threw it at Kirby, and it hit it's mark. The Betamon was sent catapulting a few yards away. He struggled to get up, gripping his sword tightly.

"YAHHHHH!!!" he dashed forward, swinging his sword around wildly. Oberon dodged and hit him on the head with the blunt side of a spear, then kicked the Betamon away. He landed with a grunt, shakily getting up. Suddenly, another bomb landed a few feet away.

Then… it was as if everything slowed. The bomb started to turn red in preparation for exploding. Kirby jumped up, panting as he backed away, inhaling deeply.

_Inhale (4)…_

He sucked in as much breath as he could, instinct having taken over. A small tornado-like wind sucked in everything that wasn't very heavy, the crowd and Oberon struggling not to be sucked in. The bomb flew into the Betamon's mouth, and he swallowed.

Kirby jumped into the air, flipping as he did so. An explosion blew off his hat, so he replaced it with a blue version. His hair turned black, as did his gloves and shoes.

_Bomb (5)… Copy Ability (6)…_

The Betamon landed in the dirt, his blue eyes flashing with determination.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Kirby shouted, a bomb materializing in his hand, which he threw at the dumbfounded Oberon. The elf shouted in pain when it hit, leaving the tip of his elfin hat on fire.

Oberon growled, pulling out another bomb and lighting it. Kirby mimicked the elf, smirking confidently. The two threw the ebony explosives at each other, meeting the other in mid-air and exploding. The blast stunned Oberon, who shielded his eyes from the debris.

Suddenly, Kirby dashed through the smoke, jumping into the air.

"Air Raid! _(7)_" A dozen small bombs suddenly appeared from nowhere and dropped on Oberon, the blast throwing up enough dust that the two fighters were concealed.

Everyone was silent as the smoke and dust cleared, Kimi gaping in shock. Knuckles Joe's own face was a mirror of his friend.

The dust cleared; leaving the triumphant Kirby standing on top of the unconscious Oberon.

* * *

Poppies cheered, Kimi and Knuckles Joe the loudest in the crowd. Titania gazed out with amazed eyes, ordering a medic for Oberon. As the passed her with him, he gave her a weak nod.

"Thank you, my brother." Titania whispered to him, smiling. She stood up as the medicine elf took Oberon away, her warm ice colored eyes focused on Kirby.

"Kirby-Dono; you have defeated our second strongest enemy. Return at Dusk for the second battle. I wish you luck." She said, her voice ringing out in the clearing.

Kimi grabbed Kirby by his blue elfin hat, dragging him to the hut with Joe following behind (laughing, may I add).

* * *

(1) The "Dream Warrior" is the embodiment of light and goodness. I guess you could say it is based off of the Anime term "Of the Stars".

(2) I myself have heard some legends about Elves being really amazing fighters; so I applied that to the Poppies.

(3) Knuckles Joe is making fun of _A Midsummer Knight's Dream_ by Shakespeare, which features the elfin King Oberon and the Fairy Queen Titania.

(4) I so do not need to explain this… (Sighs) Inhale is a signature ability of Kirby's.

(5) Bomb is an ability originally from Kirby's Dreamland, which was Kirby inhaling a bomb and spitting it back out.

(6) (Sighs again) Copy Abilities are Kirby's unique and signature powers. He normally gets a hat, sometimes a weapon, but in this his hair, gloves, and shoes change color.

(7) One of Bomb's moves, I simply gave it a name. Kirby jumps into a air and lets a barrage of bombs upon the foe.

(sighs) I lost this file several times, which pissed me off SO much. Oh well…

Good news; I just have a stomachache. Still have it (plus a sore throat), so I might have the common cold. Homework is simply getting more annoying because the end of the Semester is next Monday (Day off! WOO!), but tomorrow I have a free-dress day (my school has a dress code; so these days are fun).

(BTW) Characters like Kirby and Meta Knight have hair. I know, it's weird, but I like the idea. Kirby has brown Link styled hair, and Meta Knight has white (Kinda Link-like) hair and a Samurai styled ponytail.

_Starrgrl24: _I guess you didn't know I can't write a non-romance story. Sad, isn't it?  
I'm glad it had an effect on you, but sorry for scaring you! Strangely enough, the scariest movie I've ever watched is Hellboy.

_ChocolateCheese08: _Sorry, you are incorrect. Although it is a Japanese name (^_^)

_Kirby163: _And Meta Knight wears a mask, like Tuxedo Mask. (lol)

Anonymous: If you do, let me know who you are. I won't know (X=)

Bdun: It's Meta Knight.  
Zero is a girl in this fiction (dodges brick), Nightmare isn't important, and Galatica is a good guy.

_Writer's Block Fighter;  
Medalis_


	10. The Poppies' Challenge Part 2

"How did you do that?!" Kimi asked once she pulled the confused Kirby into the hut they were staying in. The Betamon simply shrugged.

"I wouldn't linger on it," he said, shifting his blue elfin hat. "I think winning and not getting killed is better than losing and getting killed."

Kimi's hair rose in temperature, her eyes burning intensely. She sighed irritably, rolling her eyes up to the ceiling.

"You know what? I don't even care!" she threw her hands up in the air, glaring into the air in front of her. "You wanna die? Sure, whatever!"

"…" Joe and Kirby simply stared at her, confused.

* * *

_A Little before Dusk…_

Nuka hopped up to the roof of the house, looking up at the almost deep blue sky dotted with points of gold. Something about those two colors reminded her of something… she closed her eyes, silently blacking out.

_Clank! Ching! Crash!_

_Nuka ran through a city that was ablaze, making sure all the citizens were able to escape. Suddenly, a large black dragon crashed through a building, landing in front of the crowd. It roared, black fire raging from its jaws at the surrounding remaining structures. _

_A white dragon appeared, knocking the black dragon away. Nuka pulled the crowd ahead, and out of the city. She called a name out, but everything was almost blurred, so she didn't understand what she just said. The white dragon flew down next to her, bowing it's head and allowing her to climb on its back. _

_The Dragon and Dragon Mistress flew up to meet the Black Dragon in the air above the city. Much to Nuka's surprise, someone was sitting the Black Dragon's back, dressed in armor. Now that she looked at the Black Dragon; it was dressed in armor too, making it look a little like its Master. _

"_**If it is not my dear little Sister…**__" the Dragon Master said, sneering at her. "__**Are you not happy to see your older brother after all this time?**__"_

"_Metanor _(1)_, you are killing Dreamland! Please, stop before it is too late!" Nuka responded, motioning to the flaming wasteland beneath them. Metanor chuckled, shaking his head with a cruel smile on his lips, under the mask he was wearing. _

"…_Metanor?" she said, as her older brother looked at her with a single, red eye. She flinched, gasping. "Brother, what have you done?!"_

_He laughed evilly, pulling on the reins that were tied to the Black Dragon. "__**All I have done is bring a new era upon Dreamland! The Darkness has been waiting for me, and so I swore allegiance to Queen Zero**_(2)_**!**__" _

_Nuka and her White Dragon were blown back as Metanor's Black Dragon reared up and flew away. She whispered to her Dragon, who nodded and flew after the Dark Lord. _

Nuka woke up. She looked up to the sky, yet it hadn't changed. She looked down, slightly startled to find a paintbrush _(3)_ sitting next to her. She picked it up, wondering how it got there.

* * *

Kirby, Kimi, and Knuckles Joe walked into the clearing for the second time that day, the difference being the sky was nearly black. Aluin stepped out of the crowd, pulling Kimi and Joe back into it with him.

"Sorry guys… er, guy and girl… Kirby has to face his opponent alone." Aluin whispered, and much to his surprise, Kimi nodded.

Kirby waited, just as nervous as he had been when he was about to face Oberon. Titania walked into the clearing, holding the same elfin spear she had in the previous match, yet no one followed her. Several elves muttered in confusion. Was Titania herself going to fight Kirby?

The Elfin Queen handed the spear to Kirby, much to the shared surprise of the crowd and the young Betamon. She looked at the tree, nodding, then walked away to her leafy throne, which looked more like a floral tree swing than a throne. Kirby watched her, confused.

"Keep your eyes on your opponent, young warrior." A voice said from nowhere. Kirby looked to the giant tree, which now had a face. The two pitch black eyes stared down at Kirby, a few spiked roots shooting out of the ground near the Betamon. Titania stood up, her icy blue eyes focused on the setting sun in the distance.

The fiery orb began to disappear…

* * *

Nuka watched the sun set, as it slowly dipped behind the mountains…

* * *

Kirby's blue eyes and Whispy's black eyes followed the sun as more and more of it disappeared under the horizon…

Halfway gone…

3/4 gone…

Just a little sliver…

The Sun completely disappeared as Titania shouted out;

"BEGIN!!!"

* * *

Nuka noticed that the sun was completely gone, and she smiled sadly. She glanced at the paintbrush, almost startled to see sparkling golden paint on it. She stood up, gripping the paintbrush, and began to paint in the air…

* * *

(1) 'Member this guy? Yeah, give ya one guess as to who it is. Also, this is probably the only name I made up myself, therefor it has no meaning in our world. In Dreamlandic, it means "Warrior".

(2) Yah, **Queen** Zero. Zero Two. O2. Zero Squared. (_Medalis; … indeed._)

(3) No, nothing to do with Canvas Curse… so far. (Evil Laugh.)

Sorry this update took so long! I was busy… Homework, School, That Stupid Cold That Just Will Not Go Away, and my current Sprite Job… what? I'm not allowed to work on my Spriting or something?

Anyway, I'm home today since I had a really bad nosebleed (how pleasant. Ugh). I'll try to take a bit of a break on the Spriting and Fanfiction Writing and catch up on my reading. What? InkSpell isn't gonna read itself! Well… I hope not… that would be kinda bad…

_StarrGrl24: _It was hard! But thank you (^_^)  
It is Whispy Woods! I do try to keep to the games _somewhat _ya know. (BTW: This is Kirby's Dreamland if you didn't know :/ )

_ImaginaryPsuedony: _Glad to hear it (^^)  
And Pink is very Tuff!  
Thanks!  
… I just like Galatica… he's cool…

_ChocolateCheese08: _I was too. (BRICK'D)  
Umm… What Unleashed Darkness? Eh Heh ehe… (sighs) I'm in for it now, ain't I?  
Then sorry about taking so long then.  
I know, you mentioned that in the first review.

_Kirby163: _Oberon _is_ Poppy Bros. Senior…

Bdun: Dedede isn't _all_ bad… he's still a good guy underneath it…

Yera-Roo: … sorry?  
Why thank you!  
Really? I always thought it was the reviewers that kept the story alive.

_Thanks for looking!  
Medalis_


	11. The Painting of a Star

**The Painting of a Star**

Kirby dodged a spiky root, waving the spear around. Whispy Woods glared blankly at him, frowning. He knew Kirby wouldn't be able to dodge forever; and the Betamon couldn't attack without any fighting experience. Unfortunately, Kirby knew this too.

'Damn… I'm gonna lose if I don't find a way to attack him!' Kirby thought, stepping back.

* * *

Nuka painted with the sparkling gold paint, almost as if in a trance. Her paw, which for a second looked like a glove covered hand, drew the brush to an image in her mind.

* * *

Kirby was flung back by a root into another tree, and he slumped down to the ground, groaning. He gasped for breath, a root curling around him. It raised him into the air, tightening around his half-conscious body. He heard Kimi shouting his name out, but it was like someone had stuffed cotton in his ears.

* * *

Nuka pulled the paintbrush away from her air drawing, which to her surprise was _really there_. The shimmering painting of a large star was slowly becoming solid. Then, the paint gave off a bright, unbearable, blinding light.

* * *

For a split second, Nuka appeared in front of his blurred eyes, yet it faded away. He tried to keep his eyes open, but they were heavy. The root tightened around him, choking him.

* * *

The Star that Nuka had painted flouted in front of her, waiting for her to jump on. She placed her hand on it, climbing steadily on. It didn't move, even when she tried to nudge it forward.

* * *

More images flashed in Kirby's rapidly dulling mind; memories of happy days before he tried to play hero. The root was digging into his skin, and squeezing the life out of him.

For the first time in his life, he reared his head to the sky and screamed out a name he didn't recognize.

"_**WARP STAR**__(1)__**!!!!!**_"

* * *

Nuka opened her mouth in a silent scream as the star rocketed forward, knocking her off her feet. She barely had time to grab onto the side to keep from falling completely off. She flew over Keeby's house, startling his older sister and mother. The two Betamon looked at each other, blinking.

"I knew I shouldn't have eaten those tomatoes…" they muttered, walking into the house.

Meanwhile, Nuka was holding onto the Star for dear life.

'I'M GONNA DIE!!!' she thought as the golden star sped towards Green Greens' infamous forest; Whispy Woods. While it did that, it lowered to the ground, speeding up. She flashed past two Dreamlanders, a blue blob and a pink blob. The Star rammed into the blue blob, flipping him onto the star.

And so, the blob followed what Nuka was doing, holding onto an out-of-control-star for his life.

* * *

Kirby fell silent, cringing as the root crushed his normally squishy and flexible body. Whispy stared at him with emotionless black eyes, ready to finish the young Betamon off.

Suddenly, a flash of gold hit Whispy's root, causing him to lose his grip on Kirby. The Betamon bounced off the ground, groaning and taking deep breaths. A golden star flouted over to him like a puppy wanting to play. He pulled himself up on it, not sure of _why_ he was doing it, but something about the Star filled him with energy. Then, it hit him, like how the Star had previously his Whispy.

_Warp… Star?_

The Warp Star glowed, as if happy to finally have a name. Kirby looked up into Whispy's eyes, smiling. In response, the tree frowned, narrowing his black eyes.  
Suddenly, as if commanded by an unheard voice, the Warp Star shot forward, slicing off several of the spiked roots that Whispy had thrown in the Star's path. Kirby inhaled the spikes, and felt that familiar surge go through his insides.

Kirby's hair turned from brown to yellow in a flash, his elfin being torn to shreds as spikes grew out of his head in place of hair. A spike appeared on each hand, which was rapidly covered by two orange gloves. His running shoes turned into cleats _(2)_.

With a confident smirk, the Star whirled around Whispy, agitating the tree. Several large apples fell from the tree's branches, but a few well-aimed swipes disposed of them. Kirby jumped into the air, spinning wildly. The spikes plus consent spinning equaled a powerful saw, and everyone knew a Saw was a tree's second worst nightmare. The first was Wood Rot.

"**STOP**!"

Kirby stopped spinning just before he hit Whispy, landing on the ground with a 'umf!'. He looked who had spoken out, confused. Titania walked over to the two, taking her spear from where it rested on the ground.

"That is enough. Kirby-Dono, you have proved to us that you are indeed worthy of holding the Sparkling Stars." She said, motioning to the frightened-out-of-his-roots Whispy.

"Then I _please_ have it back?" Kirby tossed off his Ability, which bounced in the form of a glowing star.

"Soon. But not now." The Fairy Queen said, walking to the crowd. "And I believe you have a sibling to assist."

Kirby blinked, confused. "Sibling? Nuka's at home and Baz's _(3)_ off… somewhere."

The Queen responded by pointing up into Whispy's branches. The young Betamon looked up, and gasped in surprise. Nuka was in the branches with a blue blob knocked unconscious, and both were dangling. Nuka smiled sheepishly, waving.

* * *

(1) A item that's appeared in nearly every Kirby game to date (with the exception of Kirby Wii; which is rumored to NOT have the Warp Star, and Meta Knightmare; since he flies instead of climbing onto the Warp Star). It is a large golden star, roughly 16-cm tall.

(2) Needle Kirby!

(3) Baz is Kirby's older brother, who _might_ be properly introduced later in the story. Baz (the name) is short for Basil, which is English for a type of herb.

Took my time on this one. Sorry peoples. Anyway, new formatting. Good or Bad? Tell me! And I have a new poll on my User Page that really needs you guys/girls to answer (not the character poll)! And I would like to know how you pericive the characters, so please tell me that too!

_StarrGrl: _^^

_ChocolateCheese08: _You could always double-check the Reviews instead ^^

Year-Roo: Yay!  
Oh, there's _plenty_ of character devolpment. … I hope.  
Yay again!

_Bdun: _And Nightmare in Dreamland/Adventure, and Brawl, and Hoshi no Kaabii, and (BRICK'D)

_Happy Belated Valentines Day  
Medalis_


	12. The Princess Zero

◊ **Hoshi no Yume **◊

◊ **Book One: Coming Storm **

◊ **Chapter 12 **◊

◊ **The Princess Zero **◊

Kirby sat in a circle around a strangely colored fire, anxiously fiddling with his shoelace. He sighed, pulling his sleeping sister closer to him. His green eyed gaze looked up to Titania, who was busy telling the Poppies stories while swinging lightly in her flowery throne swing. Her icy blue eyes were focused on the distant stars as her melodious voice carried her story throughout the hidden village.

Knuckles Joe yawned in boredom. Kimi elbowed him in the ribs, glaring at him. The blue blob that had appeared out of nowhere with Nuka looked at Kirby with confusion in his gold eyes.

"Do they always do that?" he quietly asked. Kirby nodded, smiling softly, but he didn't meet his new friend's gaze.

Gooey, which was evidently the blob's name, somehow unsettled Kirby. Maybe it was the blob's similarity to the Betamon that had attacked him in his dream _(1)_, maybe it was something else. But Kirby knew one thing; _don't trust him. Whatever you do, do not lose your guard around him. Keep an eye on that blob, and you'll be safe. _But then again, Gooey didn't have anything else in common with the Nightmarish beast, save for looking nearly the same.

_And their voices_, Kirby thought. _Both of 'em sound kinda creepy. Although Gooey seems nicer than that weirdo from my dream… whoever the heck that guy was_.

"Kirby-Dono?" Titania jumped him out of his thoughts, surprising the Betamon.

"Whoops, sorry Queen Titania. What was it you were saying?"

"…" The Queen smiled, amused. "I have a feeling that you might be interested in this story, Kirby-Dono and Gooey-Dono."

"Boring!" Joe groaned, but a quick burn mark from Kimi silenced him. The Queen cleared her throat, and the entire forest seemed to silence for what she was to say.

"Long ago, there was a land filled with Beauty and Light. No sorrow or tears were shed, no one frowned. The King that ruled that land was kind, and he thought of only what his people wanted. The King's most precious item was his daughter; the beautiful Princess. They say the Princess was both beautiful and was better then anyone at playing the flute. She could calm any creature, and everyone loved her."

"A time came when the Princess was to be married, so the King summoned the other Kingdoms' greatest princes. However, each Prince the Princess met, she turned down. For secretly, she was in love with a simple farmer. They met in the Farmer's field every night in secret, so the King would never find out. But, he did. The Princess was separated from her love, but the King was not without some form of pity."

"Once a week, he allowed the two to meet in his throne room. The throne room was locked, and no one was allowed inside. However, one week, the farmer did not come. The Princess waited for him, refusing to sleep and sometimes eat. But he never came back, for the farmer had been bitten by a snake and died."

"When the Princess found of her love's tragic fate, she locked herself within her room and allowed only the head maid; her closest friend, inside. Soon, the maid was locked outside too, and the King despaired. He would stand outside the door, and beg his daughter to come out. He tried to tempt her out with her favorite foods, her favorite jewels, everything. Nothing brought the Princess from her sadness."

"One day, the King ordered his Knights to beat down the door and bring his daughter to him. The Knights obeyed, only to find the room empty. They looked everywhere, but the Princess was no longer there. She was never found. However, they say in his last moments, the King saw what had become of his beloved daughter. No one knew what he saw from his daughter, only that he screamed and died. A statue was conducted in her honor to remind the people of love and sadness, but in the planet's final hours, some say they saw the Princess themselves, watching from the stars at their destruction."

"The Princess' name… was Zero."

The Poppies and their guests clapped, so Titania bowed. However, Gooey just stood there, his golden eyes wide.

_Z-Zero?! It can't… it cannot be the same person!!_

Gooey quickly shook his head, glaring into the dirt. _Stop thinking about that, Gooey! Your past is behind you _(2)_, and it's gonna stay that way. _

"Gooey?" Kimi's troubled voice shook him from his thoughts. He glanced up at her, extending a blobish arm to adjust his large goggles.

"Are you okay? You look pale." The lioness asked, her large violet eyes flickering with worry.

"I'm fine. Thanks though."

"Yo Ko _(4)_! Me 'n Kirby are heading up to the hut for the night! You coming?" Knuckles Joe shouted over his retreating shoulder, following Kirby and Nuka, who was asleep in her brother's arms. Kimi-Ko nodded, looking back at Gooey.

"What about you, blue boy? Ya comin'?"

"… Am I allowed to?"

"Of course! What's in that blue head of your's? Air?"

"I have a IQ of 200 _(5)_, thank you very much!"

"I guess I should call you smarty pants, eh?"

"…"

◊-----◊

Finally, Kirby managed to get some sleep without having any terrible nightmares. Although it didn't help when he woke up in the middle of the night anyway. His sleepy blue eyes gazed around, taking in his surroundings. He gently placed an ungloved paw against the Warp Star, which was attached to his elfin hat, which lay on a small hook above the cot. He, at that very moment, noticed a roundish shadow in the doorway. The Betamon sleepily jumped out of the cot and walked outside, crossing his arms in an amused manner.

"Can't sleep either, could ya Gooey?" Kirby said, walking up to the blue blob, who shook his head no.

"What woke you up?" the blob asked.

Kirby shrugged. "Probably Joe's snoring. Dude needs one of those things that help with breathing."

"A CPAP."

"Yeah, one of those."

"…"

"… Can I ask you something?"

"Matters on what is it."

"Okay… what are you?"

"Pardon?"

"I've never seen a species like you before. What are you?"

"… I don't really want to talk about it _(2)_."

"Oh. I see… sorry."

"No need. It isn't your fault."

"…" The two shared an uncomfortable silence, like only best friends can.

"Kirby?" Gooey finally asked, shifting his position.

"Yeah, Gooey?"

"What's it like… to… have a friend?"

"That's a strange question. Don't you have brainy friends or something?"

"I only have my little sister Blob."

"I guess you and Blob don't share a relationship like me and Nuka, do you?"

"Oh _hell_ no."

Kirby laughed, shaking his head with a silly grin on his face. "You know what Blue? You are just something else."

"Right back at ya, Puffball." And with that, Gooey smiled.

* * *

(1) If you wish to know, Gooey's design was changed too. He's a dark blue ball with large glowing gold eyes (that change color, like a certain Changing Knight), spiky white hair (imagine it like Dark Warrior Matter's), and large kinda silly looking goggles (original HnY drawing had glasses) with black straps.

(2) 'Member when I said that Gooey from the games was made of the same stuff as Dark Matter? Yeah, well it kinda effected him.

(4) "Ko" is a short nickname of Kimi-Ko. Ko in Japanese means "Child".

(5) I told you he was smarter here than his game self.

Blarg. Almost done with the Level One section! I WANT TO START WRITING ABOUT CASTLE LOLOLO NOW!!! *dies*

_BDun: _Someone's happy ^^

_ImaginaryPsuedony: _*.*  
Did you know you can just look up what's new in the Just In section? Cause every time I update it'll be in Kirby; Just In; Chapters. Just letin' ya know.  
... I don't know... considering that Keeby's family doesn't grow Maximum Tomatoes... so I guess no?  
I feel hyper too.

_Kirby163: _Stupid Answer time!  
Maybe ^_- Maybe not...

_Medalis Out!_


	13. The Path to the Sparkling Star

**Hoshi no Yume**

**Book One: Coming Storm**

**Chapter 13**

**The Path to the Second Sparkling Star**

_Morning… _  
It was a cloudless day in south Dreamland, the winter _(1)_ air cool and comfortable. Birds were fluttering and chirping, having their breakfast of worms. Sheep munched on grass, emitting a "ma-aaa" every once a while. Farming Dreamlanders were attempting to fix their crops, but to no avail. A certain king was sleeping in, as usual, and would not be up until lunch. His loyal servant was running around the castle, franticly searching for his beloved sister. That very sister was being given a tour of an island with red skies, slowly coming to love her new home. However, deep in Green Treetops _(2)_, the inner Whispy Woods forest was awake to bid it's first visitors in almost 3,000 _(3)_ years farewell.

Kirby, Gooey, Knuckles Joe, Kimi-Ko, and Nuka were an almost silly group to look at. You would never guess what their mission was from looking at them. Of course, you would never guess that Kirby, a young normal looking Betamon, had beaten a powerful tree practically by himself. But if you looked into his eyes, you would be able to tell that this child wasn't normal. Power seemed to make those royal blue irises glow, but other than that he looked like any other Betamon.

"Kirby-Dono, you will be safe, will you not?" Titania asked Kirby, reminding the Betamon of his mother. "If you are harmed, then the Sparkling Stars may fall into the wrong hands. Take care."

"No problem, your Highness!" Kirby gave the Fairy Queen a thumbs up, smiling. She smiled back, and glanced at the rest of the rag-tag group. Knuckles Joe was busy trying to figure out how Gooey was going to wear a backpack with no actual back, while the blob was saying "I told you, I carry stuff in my mouth!"

Kimi-Ko was helping Nuka with her backpack of herbs, because that was the lightest bag. The baby Betamon hugged her once they were done, then ran over to her old brother.

"Did Ms. Kimi-Ko help you with your backpack?" he asked, hugging his beloved baby sister. She nodded. "Did you thank her?"

She nodded again.

"Good! It's always best to thank people after they've done something for you, right Nu-Nu?" he said, rubbing her head. She nodded furiously, almost falling over.

"Hey Kirby! Ready to go?" Joe shouted over, followed by a lopsided blue blob. The Betamon nodded, taking Nuka's hand and following the short humanoid. The Poppies watched them from the trees and from ledges on their huts, waving and smiling at the group.

"Well… here we go, three plus two." Kimi said, noting their extra persons and silently wondering how they would be able to sneak around with five Dreamlanders.

"So what? The more, the merrier!" Kirby counteracted her statement, his royal blue eyes practically glowing. Kimi nodded, shifting the backpack's weight.

"HEY! Wait for me!" the group stopped and looked back. Aluin dashed through the clearing, dodging elves and fairies as he ran towards them. "I wanna come too!"

The five would-be-heroes looked at each other, and shrugged. Aluin ran up to them, panting.

"Can I come? Please?" he begged. Kirby silently glanced at Titania, who nodded sadly.

"Brother Aluin, their journey is not for the faint of heart." She said, looking at the young elf. "Consider what you are requesting."

"I know what I want, Sister Titania! And I'll bring back our Sparkling Star!"

"…" Titania sighed, embracing Aluin. "Please take care… Mother's Spirit might mangle me if something happened to you."

Joe groaned, rolling his eyes. "This is all heartbreaking and junk, but can we please go?"

The group plus two glared at him.

---

Later…

"Finally! We're out of that stupid forest… no offence Al." Knuckles Joe stated as the walked out of Green Treetops.

"None taken." The Poppy responded, shielding his eyes against the bright midday sunshine. He had grown up in the shade of the trees; this much sunlight was unnatural for him.

"Well… where to next?" Kimi-Ko said, pulling a map from her bag.

"How long have you had that?" Kirby asked, his eyes flipping to green.

"The whole trip, but you said you wanted to use whatever that freaky sixth sense thingy of yours is."

"…"

"Erm… so where does it say the nearest tower is?" Gooey interrupted, not wishing for the two Dreamlanders to break out into an argument when time was everything. The lioness just pointed to a place on the map. It was a castle.

"Okay, well… is that where we need to go?" Joe asked, shifting his backpack.

"We need to go that way!" Kirby pointed north, then started walking. "Well? You followin'?"

"…"

---

Meanwhile, in Castle Dedede…

"You gonna take care of it, right?" Dedede asked, looking at a screen.

"Of course!" a blue ball _(4)_ on the other side of the screen said coolly.

"Lololo and Lalala _always_ take care of gifts!" a pink ball _(4)_ said, winking.

"Thanks!" both balls said, the screen flipping off.

"… Your majesty, was it wise to give them one of the Stars?" Delroy asked, rubbing his tiredness from his eyes.

"Course it was! I'm wise as a Pengi!" Dedede laughed.

"The term is "Wise as a Owl", Great King _(5)_…"

"Owls are funny lookin!"

"If that is what you say, Great King…" Delroy muttered, not in the mood to humor Dedede.

"Hey… what's wrong? You ain't acting like you normally do…" Dedede asked, concerned. Delroy almost jumped; Dedede was _never_ concerned for anyone but himself.

"… My sister went missing… I'm worried about her."

"I'm sure she's okay."

"I hope so, Great King."

---

"Guys… something doesn't look right here…" Kirby said, his green eyes wide. In front of the group was a large castle, dark and forbidding _(6)_. "That doesn't look like a Sparkling Star tower."

"What's your sixth sense say?" Kimi asked, rubbing her tired feet.

"It says Kimi should shut-up."

"Ha-Ha."

"Guys, let's not fight. We don't have time." Gooey piped in, a sweatdrop on the side of his face. Kimi and Kirby glared at him, the latter's eyes dull crimson.

"Sorry you two, but Blue's right." Joe took the two younger Dreamlanders' shoulders and pushed them away from each other.

_Chk._

Nuka's head shot up, and she looked around. She looked up into a tree, surprised. _There was someone up there._

Her eyes caught sight of a bow and arrow.

_Which was pointed at Kirby_.

She ran towards her brother, who was still quarrelling with Kimi. The arrow was pulled farther back.

Nuka pushed Kirby down to the ground, just as an arrow whizzed by her head.

"Nuka, what was that for?!" Kirby asked, getting up. She pointed to the tree, where the girl with the arrow had been.

"Nu-Nu, there's nothing there."

Nuka silently cursed her muteness. She wished she had fingers so she could sign to him! But then again, Kirby didn't know sign language.

"Umm… I think Nuka may be right…" Gooey said, pointing to something behind Kirby with a blobish hand. The Betamon turned around, and came face to face with a sharp arrow.

"Uh, ya might wanna watch where you point that, miss." Kirby stammered, taking a step back. The blonde haired girl holding the arrow took a step forward. Her violet eyes bore into Kirby's worried purple eyes. She cast a confused glance at Nuka, raising an eyebrow. She lowered her bow and arrow.

"Whew, thanks!" Kirby wiped his forehead, relieved.

"…" The girl didn't respond. She was looking at Nuka, confusion written over her face.

"Uh… miss?" Joe stepped forward, then stepped back as she lifted her bow and arrow. "Hey, why you pointing that thing at me?!"

She didn't respond, but she did narrow her eyes. Nuka grabbed her wrist, their near identical colored eyes meeting. Nuka shook her head, as if saying no. The girl lowered her bow and arrow.

"… Have we met?" Kirby asked, mildly creeped out that this girl seemed to know his little sister. The girl shook her head.

"Then how do you know my sister?"

"…" The girl took an arrow and wrote something in the dirt.

_My name is Fumu _(7)_. I know Nuka from a while back. _

Kirby's eyebrows jumped up. This girl was mute! That's why she was so silent. Fumu scratched something new in the dirt.

_Are you looking for the Sparkling Star? _

Kirby nodded.

_I know where one is. Other than on your hat. By the way, why do you have two stars on your hat?_

"One's the Sparkling Star that… we found, and the others… a accessory."

_Don't lie._

"I'm not!"

_You're still lying. _

"No I'm not!"

_Yes you are. _

"…"

Fumu's face was unreadable.

"… You know where one of the Stars are at?" Kirby asked, his eyes flipping to green. Fumu nodded.

"Can you help us then?"

_Why do you want to find the Stars?_

"Why do you question me?" he counter-questioned. Fumu paused, thinking of a answer.

_Very well._

* * *

(1) Yes, **Winter**. I have a timeline for these stories.

(2) Green Treetops is my name for "Whispy Woods". Only the Poppies call it Whispy Woods, other PopStarians call it Green Treetops.

(3) Finally arranged how long Meta Knight's been in that crystal!

(4) Give ya two guesses as to who those two are.

(5) In Revenge of the King, Bandanna Dee calls Dedede "Great King".

(6) Give ya one guess as to what that Castle is.

(7) Fumu is a character in Hoshi no Kaabii (Kirby Anime), known as "Tiff" by those who watch 4kids (shutter). She, in the Anime, had the ability to summon Kirby's Warp Star, which was because she loved him "in the way a mother would" or something like that. Also in the Anime, she is "rumored" to have emotions for Meta Knight and/or Kirby. (Flipping to the version of Fumu in Hoshi no Yume) Fumu is 13 years old, and "seems" to be mute. All other information is classified. All I will let out is that she is not what she seems to be.

FINALLY! I've been waiting ages to introduce Fumu-Chan! She's one of the few characters that has been planned to be in the fiction when it was in planning stage! If you want to know, other Anime characters will also be in Hoshi no Yume.

By the way; The Fumu Appreciation Society is nearing our 100 page! Make sure to cheer us on!

Find the Septimus Heap line and get your OC in Hoshi no Yume! BTW: I kinda do need some OCs… just tell me if you want yours in and if they're good at singing.

_StarrGrl24: _Yay! A review!  
Thanks!

_Kirby163: _Tis the way of the world.  
Glad to see people made the connection that "Princess" Zero was the same as the-freaky-eyeball-thing-Zero.

_Dimento713: _Ermm… Maybe…  
I would feel that way too. I had to envision what he saw. NOT PRETTY.

_Bdun: _Actually, Zero won't be introduced for quite a while. And thanks!

_Proud Fumu Fan  
~Medalis_


	14. Where does one belong?

**Hoshi no Yume**

**Book One – Coming Storm**

**Chapter 14**

**Where does one belong?**

"_Each Friend represents a world in us; a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by meeting that a new world is born._" Anais Nin

Hoshi felt like she was dreaming. This place, the Forbidden Island, was strange and almost completely unreal. There was no light, but shadows stretched in every corner. Lions with fiery manes stalked the strangely paradise-like jungles beyond main city. Dragons flew under the clouds, their iridescent wings shining almost like starlight.

And Hoshi loved it. She loved the Dragons, she loved the Fire Lions, and she loved the red sky. The one thing she didn't love was it's ruler. Yes, he was better at leading than Dedede, and yes, he was (she would never admit this to anyone) attractive, but he had an almost … evil vibe. She didn't like it. Strangely, he was the only person she felt totally comfortable around, despite the creepy vibe. She never felt comfortable around anyone back in Dreamland. Not even her overly protective brother.

But his mind seemed occupied. He would absentmindedly answer her questions, and often she saw him roaming his dark colored castle as if he was dizzy. Yet still every person on the island respected him. They often refer to him as "Meta Knight-Sama", which she figured was a term of honor or something.

Hoshi glanced around, her robin blue eyes taking in the shadows. Despite Meta Knight calling her an "Honorable Guest", no one really trusted her. Still, she felt like this is where she belonged. Dreamland was behind her (for all she knew, it could very well be. She didn't actually know where she was on the map), and she was on an island of legends.

"Are you Meta Knight-Sama's guest?" Someone suddenly asked Hoshi, surprising the female Waddle Dee. The speaker was a girl with bright albino hair and red eyes, pale skin, and large black cat ears. She was dressed in dark purple armor with gold edges, and the symbol of the girl's master; an M with a sword piercing it.

Hoshi nodded, blinking in surprise as the girl gently held her hand out, as if to shake.

"I am Andromeda." the girl said, still holding her hand out. Hoshi took it, smiling.

"I'm Hoshi." The Waddle Dee responded, smiling. Andromeda's face remained emotionless, but she nodded.

"Are you a Star then?"

"What?"

"Hoshi means Star in our language."

"Oh, I guess that's what it means in mine too, since we speak the same language and all."

Andromeda nodded, walking away. She waved over her shoulder. "We should browse the market sometime. Just us, since there are not many girls in this castle that are not servants."

Hoshi nodded, smiling. Back in Dreamland, she never had any friends. Now here she had just made a friend within two days.

Maybe she really did belong here.

Here on an island of shadows.

* * *

Blurg… No one is allowed to bug me about how long this took. Or if I need to update any other fictions. I BROKE MY OLD LAPTOP, LARRY. REST IN PEACE LARRY. So this was typed up on my new computer. I lost all previous data on every single one of my fictions, so it'll take some time to retype…

Please, if you wish, tell me about an OC of yours and your favorite song. RAP IS NOT ALLOWED. Well… I guess you could, but that OC would get kicked out of what I have ready before you know it.

_Kirby163: _You are gonna love the part she has in this series. --- Don't matter to me. I just need some OCs!

Yera-Roo: More like Miko Fumu.

_Starrgrl24: _NO THIS WILL NOT BE A FUMU X META KNIGHT X HOSHI FICTION. Fumu doesn't even like Meta Knight (in this universe).

_ChocolateCheese08: _The quote was "You followin'?" by Kirby. The original quote was done by Boggart.

_BDun: _OMG SOMEONE AGREES WITH ME. And Meta Knight's past will be revealed later on in the series. Same for Dark Matter.

_Dimentio713: _Then you'll love the part I wrote out for him. And thank you!


	15. The Contest

**Hoshi no Yume**

**Book One; Coming Storm**

**Chapter 15**

**The Contest**

_"Getting ahead in a difficult profession requires avid faith in yourself. That is why some people with mediocre talent, but with great inner drive, go much further than people with vastly superior talent._**_"_ Sophia Loren**

"Okay, so let me recap." Knuckles Joe said, crossing his arms. The six Dreamlanders were sitting around a fire, discussing what to do next. Fumu was signing to them, and (strangely enough) Gooey translated what she said.

"Life's all normal, then BAM! Everyone has no food and the Sparkling Stars are missing. I meet Kirby, we go on a crazy journey into a forest, get bombarded by apples, Kirby gets his butt almost kicked by a tree, Nuka and Gooey appear from nowhere, then we walk all the way here, and then we meet Fumu. All clear? Although I still don't get what the Sparkling Stars are for."

Fumu's hands moved quickly in response.

"We must find what the thief has done with the Sparkling Stars. They must be returned to the pedestals soon, or Dreamland will die." Gooey translated, fiddling with his goggle strap.

"You're repeating yourself." Kimi said, her cold eyes focused on the flickering flames. Fumu glared at Kimi, and moved her fingers angrily.

"She says "You have no right to speak, Darkien." Gooey translated, raising a thin white eyebrow. Kimi got up, balling her fists and increasing the size of the flame on her head.

"What did you just call me, *****?" Kimi quietly hissed, growling.

"Kimi! Language much?" Kirby said, covering his younger sister's ears. The lioness growled, baring her teeth. Fumu stood up, pulling her bow and arrows out as if challenging Kimi. Gooey jumped between the two, glaring at the two.

"This is not the time to fight!" he looked at Fumu. "You said that time is short, and fighting is a waste of time! Let's just get some sleep so we can continue."

Kimi glared at Gooey, crossing her arms. "Since when're you in charge of me?"

Gooey's eyes flashed red, but dulled to gold. Kimi raised an eyebrow.

_His eyes… they change color too? _

The lioness pulled her sleeping bag out, and crawled in. She scowled as Knuckles Joe blew the fire out, and swatted his hand away when he reached out to her.

"Leave me alone!" she growled, her violet eyes flashing. Joe looked hurt, lowering his hand. He sighed.

"… if you say so…" Joe quietly responded, climbing in his own sleeping bag. Kimi looked at her wannabe-boyfriend, blinking. It wasn't like him to give up so quickly. She sighed, rolling over on her sleeping bag to look at the stars.

The lioness watched the stars twinkle in the sky, as if saying _"Play with us!"_. She sighed. Something touched her shoulder, making her jump. She looked sideways at Nuka, who was staring at her sadly.

"Huh? What's the matter, Nuka?" Kimi asked, blinking. Nuka rubbed her eyes, and yawned.

"Are you having trouble sleeping?" The lioness asked, and Nuka nodded. Kimi pulled a small blanket from her backpack, and placed on the ground. Nuka sat down, looking up at the sky.

"It sure is beautiful, isn't it?" Kimi whispered, yawning. Nuka nodded, yawning like her cat friend. The lioness closed her eyes, humming a soft tune. The baby Batamon's eyes drooped, and she fell asleep to the sound of Kimi-Ko's lullaby.

Kimi opened her eyes, smiling. "Sleep well, little Batamon."

---

"So… what's next?" Kirby asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Dawn had woke him up, so he woke everyone else (except his sister). Fumu pointed to the castle, and drew a star in the air with her golden furred finger.

"Are you saying there's a Sparkling Star in there?" Knuckles Joe asked, pulling his backpack onto his wide shoulders. Gooey nodded for Fumu, shifting his goggles. Kimi-Ko picked Nuka up, assuring Kirby that she'll carry her for him. Kirby silently nodded, his eyes downcast.

"Hey… are you okay?" Joe asked the Batamon, following Fumu to the castle. "You look wasted."

"Just a bad dream." Kirby responded, yawning. Nuka yawned also, waking up. Fumu looked over her shoulder at the small group, her facial expression giving nothing away. She pointed at the castle, and continued walking.

"I think that was a 'hurry up'." Gooey muttered, quickening his pace. Kirby smiled, chuckling. His eyes shone their normal royal blue, with only a little tint of green.

---

It took about an hour for the group to arrive at the castle entrance. By then, Kimi had gotten annoyed by Fumu's constant "hurry up" glances. And people knew that when a Burning Leo was angry to just stay out of their way and don't agitate them further.

Unfortunately for Kimi-Ko, things just got worse.

A table was set up at the gate. It was covered by a white cloth, and two Bennys sat behind the table. A line of Dreamlanders were signing some forms, and handing those papers to the Bennys.

"What's going on here?" Joe wondered out loud, raising an eyebrow. He noticed someone standing near the table with a sign that said "INFORMATION" above her head. The humanoid Dreamlander walked over there, spoke with her, and walked back over to the bemused group.

"Well?" Gooey asked. Joe's facial expression remained passive.

"Well… there's some sort of contest going on. Those two pop-stars; Lololo and Lalala rented this castle for a singing contest thingy. Only one person per group is allowed in, and the rest has to be in the audience. The prize is a trophy." Joe explained, toying with the locket around his neck.

"And…?"

"The Trophy has a Sparkling Star on it."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Took forever, this chapter did! I was gonna have it moving into the contest, but I desided not to.

_ChocolateCheese08:_ ^^

_Bdun: _Bye Bob :' (BRICK'D)

_Kirby163: _Andromeda's been changed to Meisu. So every time you see Andromeda/Meisu, it's the same person. Oh, and she's Mace Knight.  
You are gonna LOVE it. Trust me.

_Starrgrl24_: ; (BRICK'D) ow...  
Don't even MENTION that. Different Universe, people!  
Of course he is. He always was. And thanks!  
... (throws shoe at Starrgrl24)


	16. The Calling to the Night

**Hoshi no Yume**

**Book One; Coming Storm**

**Chapter 16**

**The Calling to the Night**

"_Close my eyes, and my wishes come true ~_" – DJ Melodie

"A singing contest? Well… if only one of us is allowed in… I'll go then!" Kirby remarked, laughing. Knuckles Joe rolled his eyes, and noticed the horrified looks Kimi-Ko and Nuka were giving him.

"K-Kirby, your singing is…" Kimi started, stammering. Kirby beamed, laughing.

"I know, I have a great voice, right?" the Batamon confidently laughed. Nuka slapped her head with her small pink paw. She sighed, walking over to her older brother.

Nuka pointed to Kirby. She mimed someone singing, then clutched her heart and fell over, gasping and clasping her ears. She stuck her tongue out and played dead.

"…" everyone simply stared. Kimi sighed, turning to face Kirby.

"She's trying to say you're tone-deaf. Really, really tone deaf." The lioness picked Nuka up, who stopped playing dead and looked at her brother.

Kirby scoffed. "You're the tone-deaf one."

"No, I'm the one who has stage fright. You're the one that scares the crap out of the audience."

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh."

Fumu, Aluin, Gooey, Nuka, and Knuckles Joe stared blankly as the two, once again, started arguing. Fumu sighed, taking her bow and arrows out. She pointed one at the small empty space between the two Popstarians.

_Twang!_

"Hey, watch where you're aiming that thing!" Kimi-Ko snapped, glaring at Fumu, who has shot one of her arrows between the two. The humanoid Dreamlander spoke quickly with her hands, her face unreadable.

"This is not the time to argue." Gooey translated, sliding over to his two friends. "We must hurry, or we will not be able to register for this contest."

Kimi-Ko and Kirby glanced at each other, and then nodded. "Right."

---

_Inside the castle…_

"Okay, I've got the submission, now who's entering?" Knuckles Joe asked, holding the submission papers. Kirby raised his hand, and Nuka pointed at Kimi-Ko. Fumu and Gooey followed the toddler Batamon's example.

"Wh-what?! N-no! I-I-I can't sing on stage!" Kimi stammered, her violet eyes dulling in panic.

"Hey, what about me?!" Kirby shook his fist, but everyone ignored him. Except a pink balloon standing next to him.

"Jiggly, Jiggly, Puff!" the balloon scolded, slapping him. Kirby responded any way any other person would; he ran. This resulted in two pink balls running around in circles, running into other contestants.

Back with the other members of the group…

"Come on Kimi-Ko, you're great at singing!" Joe attempted to comfort his (wishful-thinking) girlfriend. Kimi shook her head no, and shivered as Fumu pulled her bow and arrows out. The humanoid Dreamlander's gaze told the lioness what she was saying;

_Do it, or I'll shoot these at you._

"I hate you." Kimi-Ko said, getting up and brushing her cloak off. Fumu smiled, nodding. She grabbed the lioness by the paw, pointed at some changing stalls, and pulled Kimi along to the stalls.

Aluin glanced at Joe, confused. The humanoid male sighed, rubbing his head. "Just don't ask, 'kay?"

Aluin nodded, looking around.

"Hey… where'd Kirby-Dono go?"

---

"Whatever I did, I'm sorry!" Kirby practically screamed, running from the pissed-off balloon. It only ran faster, waving a microphone around.

"JigglyPUFF!" the balloon, somehow, started throwing hearts at Kirby.

"I said I'm sorry!" Kirby shouted, looking over his shoulder. Meanwhile, a brown haired human watched the two pink balls running around.

"Huh. That's a interesting sight." He said, blinking sleepily. "Better stop her before she KO's that puffball."

"Yellow! Show 'em what you've got!" he said, his face suddenly serious. The yellow mouse on his shoulder squeaked, jumping off and hitting the floor running. Kirby turned, slowly running out of energy.

"Jig!" the balloon followed his every move.

"Hey!" Kirby saw a small yellow rodent with a small black mane running towards him. A human followed closely by.

"Hey puff! You'd better move!" the human shouted. Kirby nodded, jumping up and flouting to the side. The balloon continued running, but quickly stopped to see her target flouting away.

"Yellow!" the balloon turned her head to the oncoming human and rodent.

"Iron Tail!" the rodent's small tail glowed as if being commanded by the human. It twisted, smacking the balloon in the head with it's tail.

"Now, Thunderbolt!" the human pointed forward, his brow furrowed. Kirby landed next to him, watching as the rodent expelled lightning from the two red cheeks on the side of it's face.

The rodent twisted, landing in front of Kirby and the human, who smirked.

"Pichu!" the rodent squeaked, letting a shower of sparks off. The balloon fell to the ground, moaning in pain.

"And that's how it's done." The human snapped his fingers, smirking. Kirby blinked, walking over to the balloon.

"Is she gonna be okay?" the Batamon asked, raising a thin brown eyebrow. The human nodded sleepily, stretching. "… okay… um, who're you?"

"I'm Kevin." The human said, rubbing the rodent's head. "And this is Yellow, my Pichu."

"I'm Kirby." Kirby responded, holding his white gloved hand to shake. Kevin took it, smiling. "Nice 'ta meet you, Kevin!"

"Right back at ya, Puff."

"Pichu!"

---

"I-I-I can't do this! I don't know any songs by heart! I-I'm too scared!" Kimi-Ko stammered, shaking. Nuka handed Fumu a white scarf, which Fumu tied around Kimi's fiery ponytail.

Nuka mimed someone singing, then someone sleeping.

"What? That song I hummed last night? Are you saying I should sing that?" the lioness asked, blinking. Nuka nodded. She sighed.

"Fine." The lioness gave in, walking out the changing stall in a blue gown that Fumu had snagged from a costume hook.

Knuckles Joe was the first to notice the lioness walking towards them. He whistled, blushing. Kimi glared at him, resisting the urge to punch the stuffing out of him.

Kirby gaped, while the human next to him raised an eyebrow.

"Whoa… Kimi-Chan, you look great!" Kirby said, blushing. The human chuckled, picturing his own crush in the same dress. His expression quickly changed to a silly grin.

"Hey, who's the human?" Kimi-Ko asked, blinking.

"I'm Kevin, the soon-to-be-Pokémon Master!" the human snapped his fingers, while the rodent on his shoulder squeaked. "And this is Yellow, my Pichu!"

"Pokémon, aye?" the lioness muttered, rolling her eyes. "Shoulda' figured."

"I'm entering the contest too!" Kevin continued, rubbing Yellow's head. "And my friend's Jigglypuff is entering too."

Everyone's heads turned as the sound of someone shouting to walk into the nearby room, and "don't push!"

"All those who are entering, please follow me!" the Benny finished, setting the microphone down and flouting over to a door.

"That's my cue!" Kevin said, snapping his fingers. Kimi remained silent, her eyes downcast.

"Kimi-Chan." Kirby walked over to his friend, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You'll do great." She smiled at him, lightly blushing.

"Thanks for lying."

---

"Hello, and welcome! I'm Lololo," a blue ball with spiky turquoise hair jumped up onto a stage, holding a microphone to where his mouth would be.

"And I'm Lalala!" a female ball with punkish pink hair flouted after her twin, holding a trophy in her hands. The trophy looked to be made of a golden metal, with a star that sparkled in the light at the rim.

"We're the Lola Twins, and your judges for the contest!" the Lola Twins said, flinging their arms out. "Whoever is deemed the best singer here will be going home with fame and a shiny trophy!"

The crowd cheered, some pounding their fists into the air.

"Wow, I never knew that someone who's barely my size could be so popular." Kirby said, dodging a crazed fan. Knuckles Joe laughed, smirking.

Kirby simply stared and held his frightened sister close while the Lola Twins listed off all the contestants. Kevin was around the middle of the list, while Jigglypuff and Kimi-Ko were last.

---

A half an hour later, it was Kevin's turn. He walked onto the stage in a tuxedo, much to the female humans in the crowd's delight. Kirby actually had to dodge a swooning girl when she fainted.

Of course, Yellow was on his shoulder, with a black bowtie around his black mane. The Pichu squeaked, motioning to a small dinosaur-looking turtle with a bulb on her back. The dino-turtle-plant nodded, and hit a button on a stereo.

A simply drum beat started up the song.

"So you wanna be a master!" Kevin started, with a very high and very fast singing voice.

"Pokémon!" Pichu squeaked.

"Do you have the skills to be Number One!" the brown-haired Pokémon Trainer sung, snapping his fingers.

"I wanna take the ultimate step, Find the courage to be bold. To risk it all and not forget, The lessons that I hold."

"I wanna go where no one's been, Far beyond the crowd. Learn the ways to take command, Use the power that's in my hand." With that word, he took a red and white ball out and spun it in his white gloved hand.

"We all live in a Pokémon world, I wanna be the greatest master of them all! We all live in a Pokémon world. Put myself to the test And be better than all the rest!"

"So you wanna be a master!"

"Pokémon!" Yellow squeaked, joined by the dino-plant.

"Do you have the skills to be Number one!" Kevin, once again, snapped his fingers.

"We all live in a Pokémon world, I wanna be the greatest master of them all!"

"Pokémon!!!" Yellow squeaked, letting off a shower of electric sparks that shocked his trainer. Which means he crashed to the ground, twitching and groaning. Yellow and the little dino-plant looked at him, worried.

After they got Kevin to a medic, Lololo and Lalala gave him a thumbs down and a thumbs up.

After another half hour, it was Jigglypuff's turn. Kirby winced, remembering the rampage the pink balloon had gone on.

Jigglypuff danced onto the stage, twirling. She gripped a microphone in her hand, tapping her foot to the music.

"FIRST YOU DRAW A CIIRRCLLE!!!" she started, making the ground shake. "A CIRCLE, DRAW A CIRCLE!!!"

"My ears are bleeding!!!" Lalala cried, hiding under the table. Lololo pointed at Jigglypuff and called for security.

Within seconds, a pair of large Bennys had thrown Jigglypuff into a nearby ally. And as they were doing so, Lololo managed to coax his twin back out. Her hair was a bit messy, and her eyes weren't their normal size yet. She shivered, taking a microphone out of its holder.

"I say triple thumbs down." She murmured, shaking her head. Her voice changed back to it's normal perkiness. "Now for our final contestant; Hotaru Kimi-Ko!"

Kimi-Ko walked onto the stage in her blue gown, her bright violet eyes half closed. She was blushing, obviously embarrassed about being on stage. She cleared her throat, nodding to a Benny that was hovering over the stereo. The Benny hit the button on the stereo, starting up the song. The music sounded like something you would hear in Titanic.

The lights dimmed, focusing one spotlight on the lioness. She swallowed, and closed her eyes tightly.

"_Through the night, to the day…_" she started, her head bowed.

"_When everything is gone…_"

"_Carry the soul away from the dryness..._" The lioness' dress sparkled in the spotlight, as if made of crystal.

"_In the sun we see, fighting over lives…_" she raised her head, looking out on the crowd.

"_All our dreams and wishes…_"

"_We send home for safe keeping…_"

"_Fighting for what's right._"

"_Calling to the night, to dream. For in the light, waiting for a storm to rise…_"

"_Feel the isolation fleeting! Calling to the night, to be, or not to be fighting here!_" Kimi-Ko raised her voice, placing her hands in a praying form.

"_Leaving without you, leaving my soul behind! Calling to the night, corners of golden crown fade with time…_"

"_Calling to the night, for us, for every single life!_"

"_All the ashes of men remain as a perfect memory!_"

"_Calling to the night…_" her voice lowered again, blending with the music in the background.

"_But the heart will remain, as a silhouette of time…_" Kimi placed her hand on where her heart was.

"_Hear the ringing echoes in the splitting horizon…_" she looked up at the spotlight, her violet eyes practically glowing.

"_Calling to the night…_" the song soon ended, and the lioness bowed her head. People in the audience began to cheer and clap.

"I think we have a winner, sister!" Lololo jumped onto the table he and his twin were sitting at. Lalala smiled, flouting over to Kimi-Ko. The gumball-like female leaned in, smiling.

"I think my brother likes you." She whispered, giggling. Kimi smiled, amused.

"Long as he ain't gonna chase me everywhere."

---

_Later…_

Kimi-Ko walked up to Kirby, who was smirking. In her gloved paws she held the trophy she had just won, which actually matched her outfit. She smiled at her friend, holding out the trophy.

"Here." She said. Kirby simply placed his hand on the star indent, and the Sparkling Star fell out into his palm. Kimi blinked, amazed. She opened her mouth to ask, but quickly shut it. Her Batamon friend smiled, pinning the Sparkling Star to his elfin hat.

"Hey, Hotaru!" Lalala flouted around the corner, her ever loving twin next to her.

"Yeah?" Kimi asked, raising a eyebrow at the pair.

"The owners of the castle are okay with you staying if ya want ta'." Lololo said, stretching.

"… thanks?"

"Welcome!" the twins said, flouting down the hall again, talking among themselves. Kimi-Ko looked at Kirby, who copied what she was doing.

"Did you ask?"

"No."

"…Then who did?"

-------

**(Author's Notes)**

Well, how was the chapter? Sorry if it seemed rushed; I wanted to post today. Happy Easter! My family doesn't really celebrate Easter... we just hide our baskets from another and eat a big brunch (breakfast and lunch).

Well, um… Crystal! Disclaimer!

**Crystal Medalis: **… whatever. Both I and my counterpart own only Kimi-Ko, Nuka-Ko, and other non-recognizable characters. Places and other known characters are property of Nintendo. Kevin and Yellow are owned by Kirby163-San, while the Jigglypuff mentioned is owned by Kirby163-San's friend.

Good girl.

**Crystal Medalis: **Bite me.

… anyway, I posted Kimi-Chan and Kirby's designs on my KRR gallery! Check it out please!  
Review time!

_Kirby163: _… does this answer your question?  
I originally wanted Mike Kirby to make a appearance, but I decided not to. Instead, Jigglypuff took his place. And thanks for letting me use Kevin in this fiction! I hope I didn't mess his personality up…

_Starrgrl24: _( :P )  
Don't worry; if you are seeing this message, the chapter was posted.

ChocolateCheese08: What about Jigglypuff?  
(Kirby: "Don't make me eat you.")

_bdun_: … I really don't know anymore…  
It's called being unimaginative! ( lol )  
… Did I ever _say_ I was making this the whole series into one story? I have a bunch of stories planned out!

Year-roo: At least you reviewed. Thank you!  
Miko is, commonly, known as a Temple Priestess in Japanese. Look it up on Google. They rock!  
Sorry… I kinda just thought of that one… I hope it wasn't too weird!

_Fefie-Daughter-Of-Meta-Knight: _… From now on, please just review the whole thing in one review on the last chapter… making a crap load of ones that go in order from start to finish gives me a tumor. (sighs) Oh well… here I go…

Chapter One Review: No flamin' the name. It took me forever to think of a good one.

Chapter Two Review: Yes, I'm aware of my misspelling. No need to point it out. And yes, Patamon is cute. Gatomon is my favorite Digimon though.  
Maxmim Tomato is short for Maximum Tomato, which is the official name. Maxmim is used for in game uses. Please look that up before getting on me about it.  
Thank you.  
Kirby's personality is moreof based on the language used in Kirby Star Stacker, a US-game based on Puyo-Puyo (how ironic).  
No! Do not assume things! Kirby and Keeby are NOT related! And who the heck is Kuubii? And one more thing; there are no four Kirbys in this entire series! They're different people (although Baz is Kirby's brother)!

Chapter Three Review: … "watched"? It's a song.  
(which gives me a tumor)  
No, the steal all the food in Dreamland thing is from Kirby's Dreamland! Spring Breeze is BASED off of Kirby's Dreamland! And this is not the game universe, which means NONE of this is canon!  
… Hm.  
No, Metanor is Meta Knight. … And I'm with Cutiewitabootie on the "Meta Knight is hot" thing. I'm a fangirl, but not like THAT!  
Heh, I blame Miyamoto-Sama for that one.  
I never said Kawasaki had horrible cooking. I said it wasn't the best. Not the best, not the worst.  
Stop assuming things! I never said that Earth even EXISTED in this universe! Well… it did…but it kinda… froze.  
Goddamnit, STOP ASSUMING THINGS! I don't care if someone flames, I don't care if they point out every little mistake, I just hate it when people assume things! I never said that there were Christians in Dreamland, anyway. I'm a Atheist and I still have things like Demons and Sins in my stories. Don't flame if you don't know.  
Yay, a Meta Knight X Sailor Dee supporter!

Chapter Four Review: I know it's Knuckle Joe, but his character (personality) is based off of Knuckles from the Sonic series. Therefore, it will remain to be written as Knuckles Joe.  
Have you ever heard of something called "asking them kindly to shut the hell up"? It works quite well. Sometimes.

I won't know if Hoshi falls in love with Meta. Considering that he kinda already has a lo-(BRICK'D) ow…  
You have no room to talk. Try living in the Northwest. We still have snow on the ground.  
Escargoon is in this series too.  
No, she wished for "someone to take me away from here, someone better than Dededork". I don't see any mentioning of Meta Knight in there. Hell, she probably didn't even know he existed before this!

Chapter Five Review: I'll get in the bomb shelter then (BRICK'D).  
No duh. And what did I say about this having nothing to do with the canon series?  
… (facepalm)  
Issun? Never heard of him.  
(laughs) This guy INVENTED the term "Bad Boy".  
Yay, ChuChu X Kirby 4ever!  
The pilot of their meeting had her as a 16 year old. Read that if you want a Hoshi at 16.

Chapter Six Review: I never said that! And yeah, I had fun writing that. (Jumping Jacks actually works pretty well too.)  
He ain't a baby.  
I feel no pity. And I don't care.  
Wouldn't you be scared out of your wits at a possessed bear that was three times bigger than you? Don't say no. I don't like lying.  
Whoever said Kimi-Ko was with Knuckles Joe? I sure didn't.  
Bite me.

Chapter Seven Review: Yay! Someone noticed!  
Ribbon won't be in the series until the end of, at the earliest, Milky Way Wishes.  
Still don't care. And yes, apply that "Crush the Size of Alaska" thing to Kimi-Ko.  
Wrong!  
Thanks, but I still don't care OR feel pity.

_Feeling very pissed off right now-  
Medalis. _


	17. The Reflection

Oh noes! I haven't updated in like, a month! Well, now you guys get a few chapters instead of one.

Enjoy! This one's a 2000 worder!  
**'Member, review on the LAST CHAPTER I POSTED. Otherwise I won't like you. Nyaa~**

---

**Hoshi no Yume**

**Book One; Coming Storm**

**Chapter 17**

**The Reflection **

"What're you two worried about? We got boarding room!" Knuckles Joe said, picking up several of their backpacks and carrying them to the door. He cast a glance at Kimi-Ko, who was glaring at him.

"Don't you ever _think_ things through?" she asked. "This is waaay too weird. It could be a trap or something!"

Joe raised a thin yellow eyebrow. "Set up by _who_? 'Member, we still don't know who stole the S.S's in the first place."

"S.S's?" Kirby joined in on the conversation, his eyes turning pink. "Where'd you get _THAT_ from?"

"Shut up, it sounds cool!"

Kirby chuckled, shaking his head slowly. "Whatever, it just sounds funny."

His eyes turned green. "But you're right about one thing; we don't know who stole the stars from their towers. And until we do, we're in danger."

"Danger how?" Kimi-Ko asked. She didn't like Kirby's sudden mood swings, and the color changing eyes thing was creepy.

"We know nothing about him/her, so we won't be able to predict what they're gonna do next or where the next star is."

"… oh. Maybe they don't know about us either."

"Possibly." Kirby said, dropping the topic. Kimi watched as her friend followed Knuckles Joe, and continually place his hand lightly on his sword, as if he was more than willing to draw it.

She sighed, following her friends.

---

"Wow!" Aluin ran into the room that the group was staying in. His green eyes were wide; of course, since the little elf had only known the forest for his home.

"This place is so _big_!" the little elf gaped, his jaw on the floor. "It's as wide as Whispy-Dono!"

Kirby chuckled, shifting his hat. His hand toyed with the hilt of his sword, and he sighed. He quietly walked out of the room while Aluin continued to marvel at it, distracting the other members of the group.

Kirby walked down the hall, avoiding the confused glances from several Bennys he passed. Finally, after a few minutes, he walked out of the castle and onto the grass. He sighed, looking up into the night sky.

The silver moon sparkled in the night sky, surrounded by golden stars. Several clouds passed in front of the moon, covering it from view and casting the ground into shadow.

The Batamon continued to walk away from the looming castle, his eyes glowing bright emerald green. Soon, a lake shimmered into view. He blinked several times, rubbed his eyes, and looked at the lake in confusion.

"Where'd that come from?"

He walked onto the shore, staring at the water in disbelief. He pulled off one of his gloves, and dipped his hand into the water.

"Yup. Real." Kirby muttered, pulling his hand out of the water and wiping it dry.

He walked along the shore, looking at the stars. He sighed.

"Something's up… I have a bad feeling 'bout this." The Batamon sighed, looking into the water.

A white haired dark pink Batamon with demonic red eyes stared back out at him. Kirby fell over, shouting in shock. He breathed in several times, his white eyes wide.

_Wha-what was that?!_

He ran over to the water, looking into the reflective surface again. But his own face looked back at him. He blinked, looking closer.

"Are my eyes… green?" he shook his head, scratching his brown hair. "Must'a been somethin' I ate…"

He walked away, back towards the castle, muttering to himself.

Once Kirby was out of sight, a being appeared on the lake. It glowed the seven colors of the rainbow, and had a long staff in one hand. The being sighed, waving the staff over where the Batamon's reflection had been; and the demonic creature reappeared.

The being narrowed its lilac eyes, sighing. The water stretched around the being's form, surrounding it and disappearing. The lake shimmered out of view, returning to a flat plain.

"_It has started..._"

---

"…"

"…"

Hoshi waved a hand in front of the masked Batamon's face.

"Helloo? Anyone in there?" She poked the metallic surface of the mask.

"Stop touching me."

"Then answer me!"

"…"

Hoshi rolled her blue eyes, swatting a few honey colored strands from her face. "Where. Are. We. Going?"

"To see… an old friend." Meta Knight responded, not bothering to face her.

"That doesn't answer my question." The female Waddle Dee tried to yank the Batamon's white hair, but he ducked.

"Too bad. Hurry up."

Hoshi pouted, but quickened her walking pace.

She wouldn't admit it, but the stone tunnel the two were walking in creeped her out. It was wet, had mold growing on the stone walls, and smelled like sulfur.

"Where's the smell comin' from?" she cast a glare at Meta Knight's caped back, pouting cutely.

"…"

"You don't talk much, do you?"

"…"

"I'll take that as a yes." Hoshi muttered, rolling her eyes again.

For the next few moments, the two walked in the long tunnel in silence. The female of the pair kept her eyes on the knight's trailing cape, trying not to step on the royal blue cloth. She had already done that, _accidently_, and Meta Knight had not been a happy Batamon. Meisu had later asked her why there was a big hole in the wall.

"Are we there yet?" Hoshi asked, looking at the mold on the wall, which now looked burnt.

"No."

"Now?"

"No."

"…"

"…"

"Now?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"No."

"…" Hoshi groaned, hugging herself. It was oddly humid and hot in this tunnel, and the smell wasn't any better. Meta Knight seemed to be immune to it, for some reason. She pouted, thinking on how to get him to answer her.

"Where're you takin' me?"

"… Soon."

"Come on, _Mety__**, **_what's the secret?"

"_What did you just call me?!_"

"Jeez, lighten up."

Meta Knight growled, his hair puffed out a little. Hoshi smirked, stashing the little nickname away for later. She started humming to herself.

A few seconds later, Meta Knight stopped. Hoshi ran into him, grabbing his cape for support. She blinked.

"Hey, why's this thing feel like leather?"

The knight didn't respond, since he was too busy fiddling with the knob to a giant door. There were large letters about the ring-like knob, but Hoshi wasn't very good with the Dark Kingdom's language. The best she could do was speak a bit of it.

Meta Knight took the ring in his hand, twisted it, and pulled. The large door swung open easily, and Hoshi was nearly blown back by a huge gust of hot, sulfur-smelling air. She clamped a hand over her small slit-like nostrils, gagging.

"Oh Star Rod, what the f*#& is that smell?!"

Meta Knight didn't respond, he only pulled a large black scarf from his cape and handed it to her. She took the hint, wrapping it around her face so that most of the smell was blocked out. She sighed in relief.

"That's better…" she walked into the large room behind the older knight. She looked around the room, but she couldn't see anything.

"Wow Mety. This is so… uh, interesting."

He didn't respond, he was staring at a certain spot in the darkness. He placed his large white-gloved hand on the spot, his eye glowing brightly.

A small golden light appeared in the darkness, growing larger until it was bigger than the knight himself. It took a few seconds for Hoshi to figure out this was a eye, and a very big one at that.

"Are you awake my friend?" Meta Knight asked. His response was a large plume of sulfur gas from two nostrils. The eyes shifted to the side, as if regarding him.

"Follow me." The knight nodded, to the eyes, then looked at Hoshi. "Leave the tunnel, girl."

"I do have a _name_, you know."

Meta Knight cleared his throat, motioning to the door.

"Fine, whatever." The Waddle Dee ran out the door, secretly not wanting to spend another minute in the room. The eyes had frightened her.

A few minutes later, Hoshi ran out the tunnel, and was back in the court yard of the castle. She looked around, and dashed out the yard and into the city. Already, people were gathering, watching as the ground itself seemed to tremble.

Hoshi scrambled up onto a roof, watching at a large hunk of the ground just disappeared, revealing a large hole.

A large clawed hand grasped the side, joined by a second. The air was filled with the smell of sulfur, and a loud creaking sound. A pair of dragon wings, the iridescent side changing color and patterns, stretched above the hole. Deadly looking claws adorned the wings like fingers, reflecting the red clouds.

Out of the hole crawled the single _largest_ dragon Hoshi had ever seen. It was nearly completely covered in black scales, with two long curving black horns that jutted from its head. A crown of spikes grew from in front of the horns. A fiery black-furred mane puffed from below the dragon's head. Its tail was ended in a arrowhead-like item.

From where she was standing, Hoshi could see the dragon was about as tall as the castle.

"_Wow_." She breathed. The Waddle Dee noticed a small, round figure jump off the dragon's head, and land on the ground. It took her two seconds to figure out that the figure was Meta Knight, who was pointing at the dragon and barking orders to nearby soldiers.

All the soldiers ran around town, gathering extra food (especially meat) and bringing it to the dragon, who had laid down in a big pasture (scaring a few lions and sheep). Hoshi jumped off the low roof, and ran to the pasture, dodging soldiers and Darkians.

The dragon was more magnificent up close. She could see the sharpened jet black scales better, and the spike crown was actually a huge plume of feathers, and the furred mane was also made of feathers. The dragon watched her lazily, it's golden eye almost like the sun.

Several soldiers brought the food forward, dashing away as soon they set it down. The dragon gulped it down quickly, licking its mouth. Meta Knight stepped forward, shocking a few of the soldiers and Hoshi. He placed one of his claw-like hands on the dragon's head, his eye appearing again. The dragon's eyes glowed in tune, as if the two were connected somehow.

Suddenly, the dragon reared up, flapping it's great wings, and flew into the sky. It arced, and roared. Everyone on the island (excluding Meta Knight) clamped their hands over their ears, gritting their teeth. The dragon flew away, becoming a black spot on the horizon. Hoshi opened a lilac-hued eye, gaping.

"_What the heck just happened?_" she asked, her eyes focused on Meta Knight's caped back. "What did you just do?"

He chuckled darkly, turning to face her. His eye glowed a frightening crimson, reflecting her body in its depths.

"_**I rekindled a old grudge.**_"

"A-against what?"

A large, maniacal grin spread across his face.

"_**A few particularly troublesome weaklings.**_"

---

Kirby watched as Fumu polished her arrows, placing each in a row. He raised an eyebrow.

"You're pretty picky about those arrows, eh?" he joked. Fumu cast him a cold glance, and then returned to what she had been doing.

A few dull minutes passed; and Kirby was just about to leave when Fumu placed the arrows in her quiver and shouldered it. She nodded to him, her amethyst eyes practically glowing. He gave her a quick thumbs up.

They walked down to the main room together in silence. It particularly bothered Kirby; for some reason he couldn't keep his eyes off Fumu. She was pretty, yeah, but to _stare at her for 5 minutes?_ That HAD to be weird.

The two walked into the big "ballroom", and were greeted by their friends.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Joe asked, grinning. "Didja make-out?"

Kirby and Fumu both blushed, but the female of the pair reached for her bows and arrows. Joe waved his hands in front of him, worried.

"Now now… don't kill me… please…"

Fumu pouted, shaking her head sadly. She sighed, while Gooey chuckled and Aluin watched them, confused.

"Kimi-Chan, what's 'make out'?" he asked, turning to the steaming lioness. She frowned, preferring to stay silent.

Suddenly, four heads snapped up and looked in the same direction. Fumu's eyes widened as a large black claw crashed through the roof, nearly crushing the newly-out-of-the-hospital Kevin (who screamed and ran).

Kirby's eyes widened.

"Is that… a DRAGON?!"

"Not just any dragon." His head turned to Fumu, who looked incredibly scared. She looked at him with her violet eyes, and the Batamon realized she was the one who had spoken.

"That's Ryuu, the Dragon Emperor." She said, reaching for her arrows.

"Bad guy?"

Fumu nodded.

"Oh Star Rod, we are SO screwed."

---

Reviews;

_Starrgrl24; _It was the First End of Hoshi no Kaabii; called "Draw a Circle". Oddly enough, this song was similar to one used in Adventure.  
Kevin was singing "So you Wanna Be a Master?" from Pokemon Season… Three? I don't remember. I think it was either 2 or 3, maybe 4.

_Kirby163; _You deserved it, prez. (hugs back)  
Actually, if my Pokemon knowledge proves true, you have to have won EVERY single region to be the Pokemon Master. I think.  
(smiles)

"_Kirby-163-san's friend"; _You're welcome, and thanks for letting me use her!  
PS; He's not dead! (Points upward) See?

_Bdun; _(evil laugh) Not yet…

_RandomWarriorAngel; _I don't recall a "Guest", but hello!

ChocolateCheese08; I know O,O. It gave me NIGHTMARES.  
And no, I've never watched the X-Files. My dad has the movie, but I never watched it myself. Now, I have watched the _Y_-Files (BRICK'D for corny Drama Con joke).

_Edwardfanatic101; _… dude. REVIEW FROM THE LAST CHAPTER AND I'LL STOP DISLIKING YOU. AND STOP BEING SO FANGIRLY FOR STUFF. IT'S ANNOYING.  
_Humph._

_The one and only…  
~Medalis_


	18. The Dragon Emperor

'**Member, review on the LAST CHAPTER I POSTED. Otherwise I won't like you. Nyaa~**

**---**

**Hoshi no Yume**

**Book One; Coming Storm**

**Chapter 18**

**The Dragon Emperor **

"Is that… a DRAGON?!" Kirby's jaw dropped open at the sight of the large claw.

"Not just any dragon." Fumu whispered, causing the group's eyes to widen even further.

"That's Ryuu, the Dragon Emperor." She said, reaching for her arrows.

"Bad guy?"

Fumu nodded.

"Oh Star Rod, we are SO screwed." The Batamon justly said, pulling his sword from its sheath.

Knuckles Joe balled his fists in front of him, and turned to Kimi-Ko, who had intensified her flames.

Gooey narrowed his eyes, his white hair flouting lightly. Nuka's violet eyes glowed, and her hair darkened to black.

Everyone in the room was either running for their lives, or grabbing nearby weapons. Lololo and Lalala were pelting Ryuu with stones, shouting insults.

"Scaly bum!"

"Feathered freak!"

Ryuu roared, spewing black flames. The Lola Twins were quick to get out of the way, but several Bennys weren't as lucky. The screamed as they burned, flailing around.

Kirby paled.

_Innocent… They were innocent…_

He dashed forward, shouting a battle cry. Ryuu slammed him against a wall, as if the Batamon was nothing but a fly. The dragon's golden eyes focused on Nuka and Fumu. It raised its tail, seeming to smirk.

Fumu stepped in front of Nuka, aiming her arrows for the dragon's eye. The arrow screamed out, becoming encased in golden light. It was knocked away by a large black scaled tail. Ryuu roared, lashing his claws against Fumu, throwing her back a few feet. Nuka ran to the Cappy-like girl's unmoving body, quivering. The dragon raised his tail, the arrowhead on the end aiming for the two girls.

A long, pinkish tongue wrapped around the tail, stopping Ryuu. He growled, pulling the owner forward. Gooey slammed against the dragon at full speed, retracting his tongue. He landed in front of Nuka and Fumu, watching them from the corner of his eye. He mouthed one word.

_Run._

Nuka nodded, picking Fumu up and wrapping her arm around the small Batamon's shoulders. She ran, dragging the Cappy-like girl with her.

Ryuu shook off the sudden attack, and sent another fireball roaring towards them. Kimi intercepted it, trying to hold the raging black flame back. It bit into her fireproof gloves, burning her. She grit her teeth, whimpering.

Kirby staggered towards them, using his sword like a crutch. He waved to Kimi, motioning for her to aim the fireball towards him. She shook her head no, yelping as the black fire began to push her back. The lioness' eyes flickered between Kirby and Ryuu, who was snapping at Lololo and Lalala, who sent another volley of stones on him. Kimi's fiery violet eyes glowed, and she kicked the decreasing-in-size fireball towards Kirby.

Kirby opened his mouth, inhaling the fire in. He swallowed, and jumped into the air.

A round emerald appeared, and Kirby jumped into it. His hair flared up, turning into red fire. A golden crown formed around the emerald, His skin darkened, and he smirked.

_Fire… Copy Ability…_

Kirby landed on his feet, his blue eyes glowing like fire. Ryuu narrowed his golden eyes, growling. The dragon's tail twitched, the arrow glinting in the moonlight.

Kirby dashed forward, avoiding fallen debris and a few burning piles of wood.

"Warp Star!" he threw the Warp Star, making it enlarge. It spun around, and allowed him to jump onto it. He smirked, encasing himself and the star in bright red fire. The fireball aimed towards Ryuu, going at unimaginable speeds…

And bounced harmlessly off the dragon's scales. Kirby blinked several times in shock, before realizing he was falling from about three stories up.

"Oh _poyo_." He mumbled, before hitting the ground. The Warp Star was lodged in the wall nearby, shrinking to its smaller size.

"Kirby!" Kimi-Ko tried to rush forward, but she was blasted back by a black fireball, slamming her into a wall. Knuckles Joe was thrown off Ryuu's tail, and knocked out against the ground. The dragon aimed a swipe at Gooey, nearly crushing him. Fumu lay unmoving, a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth.

Nuka was the last one standing. Tears ran from her violet eyes, splashing on the ground. She whimpered, frozen to the spot. Ryuu looked down, his golden eyes glowing. The little Batamon took a step back, frightened.

Sulfur stream billowed out of the dragon's nose, sickening the little Batamon. She took another step backwards, tripping and falling to the ground. Nuka looked at what she had tripped on; Fumu's bow and arrows.

She grabbed them, awkwardly aiming an arrow at Ryuu. The dragon seemed to raise a eyebrow, as if he didn't know if he could take her seriously. Nuka swallowed the lump in her throat, and let the arrow fly.

It stabbed Ryuu in one of his golden eyes. The dragon reared up, roaring in pain. He slammed his claw into the ground in front of her, sending the little Batamon flying. The dragon grabbed the arrow with his claws, and wrenched it out of his eye. Blood ran in a small trickle down his scaly face.

Suddenly, a red fireball slammed into him, knocking the dragon down. Kirby flouted above Ryuu, holding his sister. The dragon reared up again, arcing his body and flying away. He roared one last time at the castle, and disappeared.

---

_Fire raged through the city, burning everything. Only one thing could be heard over it; the clashing of swords. _

_Clash! Ching! _

_Three swords- one a silver Kanata, the other two golden with a red jewel set into the center- slammed against each-other, sending showers of sparks into the air. The owners – both Batamon, but one was a pink, black haired female, and the other was a dark navy blue male with snow white hair – dodged each other's attacks. _

_The male smirked under the silver mask, his single red eye glowing evilly. _

"_**Give up! Dreamland is doomed anyway, so why fight me?**__" he said, his angelic raspy voice compelling the female to obey him. She grit her teeth, spinning and catching one of the male's swords by the spike. _

"_Never!" she shouted, keeping the tears back. The male slammed his shield into her face, sending her stumbling back. _

"_**If you give in, I will make sure you are rewarded, my dear Nuka.**__" He flipped, dodging a swipe from Nuka. She narrowed her violet eyes, sidestepping one of his swords. _

"_I serve Dreamland, not the Darkness! I will never bow down to evil!" she aimed a kick at him, but he blocked with his shield. _

"_**Wrong choice.**__" He growled, and was surrounded by a black aura. He jumped into the air, his cape changing into a pair of devil wings. He flew away, towards a distant castle. _

_Nuka grit her teeth, fought her tears, and followed him on foot. Two other females joined her; one was a blonde fairy with monarch wings and icy blue eyes, and the other was a gold furred Cappy-like girl with eyes similar to the Batamon. _

_They nodded to each-other, and ran after the Dark Lord. _

---

Reviews;

NONE! **'Member, review on the LAST CHAPTER I POSTED. Otherwise I won't like you. Nyaa~**


	19. Warp Star Air

**Hoshi no Yume  
Book 1; Coming Storm  
Chapter 19  
Warp Star Air**

"Are you gonna be okay?" The blond woman asked, handing Kirby a small bag. He gave her a thumbs-up.

"No prob, Lady Memu. Thanks for giving us a place to stay." He said, his blue eyes shimmering. Fumu nodded to him. She had exchanged her red and white _Miko_ robes for a pink and green version.

"Thanks for helping us out with the dragon-thing, Fumu." He smiled at her, his cheeks a brighter red than normal. He looked at his traveling companions.

"Thanks Fumu-Sama!" Aluin handed her a flower; pink and green, with a gold center. Knuckles Joe saluted her, smiling coolly. Gooey nodded, smiling at her.

Nuka gave her a quick hug, and soon Kimi-Ko was the only one left. She glared at the golden-haired girl, and turned away.

"… I guess we'll be going." Kirby said, his eyes flickering purple. He started down the hill, waving back. "See ya!"

Fumu remained still, her violet eyes remaining on the group that was walking away from her home.

She sighed, dashing after them. "Kirby!"

The Batamon turned, looking at her. "Something wrong?"

She blushed, and quickly pressed her lips against him. It lasted only a second, and Fumu pulled away. Her face was bright red, and her hair flared out as she ran back to the castle.

The other members of the group were confused.

"Oh come on! How come Kirby get's a kiss and I don't?" Joe complained. Aluin just stood there, not entirely knowing what happened. Gooey shook his head, chucking. Nuka blinked in confusion. No one noticed Kimi's hair flare up, darkening.

Kirby stood there, his jaw ajar and his face beet red. His eyes were bright blue, and sparkling like water. He lowered his face, looking towards the road.

"SHE KISSED ME!!! A GIRL KISSED ME!!! YAHHHHOOOOOOO!!" he suddenly jumped up, laughing and speeding down the road.

"Ack, Kirby wait up!" Joe took off after him. Aluin came next, followed by Gooey and Nuka, who was followed by a VERY upset lioness.

---

_Meanwhile…_

"Last time I ever give a pair of POPSTARS (insert obvious bad pun chuckle from Delroy) something that important." Dedede growled, rewatching the video of an odd lion-looking creature's performance. In his large yellow gloved hand was a bunch of slips, each with each performer's name and the name of the other people in their group.

"Let's see… Hotaru Kimi-Ko; one of six. She's a Burning Leo… never heard of them. She's the winner of this silly little contest, and… holy!!" the King's calm and bored face suddenly changed to shock.

The shock melted into smugness. "Kirby of the Crown of Galactica, eh? Been a while since one of _**them **_stepped into the picture."

"Great King…? What is the "Crown of Galactica"?" Delroy asked, looking at the slip. "I've heard of Galactica, the Comet Rider guy, but…"

"It's like a last name. Ever since that big war a 'couple a thousand years ago, I thought they were layin' it low." Dedede muttered, his beak twitching smugly. "Look's like we found who's takin' the Stars back."

---

"(gasp) Man, that was one (cough) rush!" Kirby said, laughing. The whole group had managed to cover a couple of miles in a few hours, which gained precious time back.

None of the other members of the group shared his amusement at the statement. Kimi had pulled her map back out, and studying it intensely.

"Anyway, according to this, the closest Star Tower is in Grape Gardens, and so far the Stars haven't been too far from their towers, I think it's safe to assume that this Star isn't too far." She said, pointing to a mountain. Kirby blinked, walking over to her. He looked at the map.

"We need to go that way." He pointed east, his eyes glowing gold.

Kimi's face contorted in confusion. "But Kirby, if we go that way, we'll be heading to the Flouting Islands."

His eyes turned pink. "We need to there then! I have a friend that can help us find the Sparkling Star around there."

"But how are we gonna GET there?" Joe asked, looking east. "The Flouting Islands are exactly the easiest place to get. Heck, you have to practically be able to fly or have a boat to even get near them."

Kirby smirked, gently pulling one of the Stars off his cap and tossing it in the air. "Warp Star Air, at your service."

The Warp Star glowed, increasing in size. It grew to the size that all of them could hold onto it, with a smirking Kirby being the first one on.

"Well? You comin'?"

---

The Flouting Islands are islands in the far east of Dreamland, almost bordering on the Rainbow Sea territory. They were given their names because, oddly enough, they're not anchored to the ocean floor, and so they tend to flout around. The center of the island is an inactive volcano, which originally spewed out rock that became the islands. Beneath the thin crust of the island are tombs and catacombs of every kind, twisting around each other in a large and very VERY confusing maze.

On the surface of the island, near the west most point, is a small cottage. A naturally green Batamon lives here, making a honest life. But his color isn't the strangest thing about him.

This Batamon looks up into the air, enjoying the feeling of the breeze ruffling his silvery hair. His violet eyes glowed, casting the area around his face in a dull purple glow.

"ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

He looked up at the sound. The white cape-like coat that covered most of him fluttered.

"aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHH"

He raised a grey eyebrow.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" a large yellow star crashed in front of him, making the elder Batamon jump and unsheathe a large silver sword. His silvery hair was puffed up.

A pink Batamon popped out of the crater, pulling five others out. The elder Batamon lowered his sword, his purple eyes flashing green.

"Kirby?" he asked, his mouth agape. The pink Batamon shifted the green hat on his head, giving the elder Batamon a thumbs-up.

"Hiya Grandpa Arthur. Sorry to drop in on ya, but it's a bit of a emergency." Kirby chuckled, catching a small yellow star that flew over to him.

Arthur chuckled, wiping his brow of sweat. "Must be. Come on, you all look like there's a story to tell."

---

Reviews;

NONE! **'Member, review on the LAST CHAPTER I POSTED. Otherwise I won't like you. Nyaa~**


	20. The Green Winged Angel

**Hoshi no Yume  
Book 1; Coming Storm  
Chapter 20  
the Green Winged Angel**

"… and so, we're here." Kirby finished explaining, his green eyes glowing softly. Arthur nodded, his eyes also emerald green.

"The Sparkling Stars, gone, and I never knew." The elder Batamon said regretfully, his eyes flickering dark violet. The female older Batamon that was bandaging Kimi-Ko looked up, her orange eyes full of warmth.

"Art, it's not your fault. Neither is it yours, Kirby. Stop putting yourself down." She said, blowing a few dull red strands out of her face. She moved onto Knuckles Joe, taking fresh bandages and cleaning the small scrapes that he had.

Arthur sighed, pulling his large silver sword out and polishing it.

"Wow. That's a cool looking sword, Arthur-Dono." Aluin said, pointing at it. The elder Batamon's eyes turned blue, and a small smile perched itself on his face.

"Thank you, Aluin. It's one of my favorites." He said, holding it in the light. Kirby pulled his own sword out, and showed it to Arthur.

His eyebrows flew upward. "I haven't seen that sword in a while. Where'd you get it?"

"Dad gave it me."

A chuckle. "Cepheus gave it to you? Makes sense. He was never one for swordsmanship."

"Maybe that's cause you got him up at five in the morning to train _every day_ until he was 19." the female Batamon said, smiling in amusement. Arthur shrugged.

"Falspar liked it. So it wasn't a complete waste." He chuckled, his eyes glowing pink.

"Okay, that's it." Kimi-Ko stood up, her hair flaring. "For the past few days, Kirby's eyes have been changing color and _it's freaking me out_. Now yours do too! What gives?"

Kirby blinked, his eyes changing to brown. "My eyes change color?"

Arthur chuckled, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen. "It's quite simple. We; meaning Kirby, Nuka, and I, are all descendants of Galactica. I hope you've heard of him."

"The Comet Rider guy?" Joe asked, toying with his necklace.

"Interesting definition." The elder Batamon raised an eyebrow. "But yes, we are distantly related to him."

He wrote something on the paper. "Some of his descendants… both good, and evil (_meanwhile on the Forbidden Island, Meta Knight sneezed_) have a bit of a… mutation, so to speak."

He held up the paper, revealing a list. "One of these mutations is eyes that change color. Galactica himself created this one, since he wore a mask most of the time and no one could tell what he was feeling."

"Blue is happy, Green is thought, Purple is embarrassment and sometimes confusion, Brown is pain and also sometimes confusion, Gold is sensing something, Black is unconsciousness and extreme pain/worried, and White is shock and excitement." He listed off, pointing to each color in turn.

"Red." Kirby looked up, his eyes black. "What's red?"

Arthur's face fell. "Red… more often it's crimson, but… Kirby, why are you asking this?"

"Just a question."

"… Crimson is demonic intentions, and dull Red is anger."

"I only saw Arthur with Red eyes once, and that was when he… well…" the female Batamon said, sitting at the table next to Nuka.

"It's okay, Morgan. If Kirby trusts these kids, then I do too." Arthur said, pulling his white coat off and hanging it up.

"It was when Art got his wings." Morgan said quietly, her orange eyes worried.

"Wait a second, did you just say _wings_?" Kimi asked, and looked at Arthur. Her jaw dropped.

On the elder Batamon's back were two large, emerald colored angel wings.

"By the Star Rod…" Joe said, his blue eyes wide. "I never knew Batamon could grow wings!"

"Most can't. It's a gene that even the Galactica family is losing. Star Rod, it skipped a couple generations to get to me." Arthur said, sitting back down and folding his wings behind his back.

"By the time Nuka or Kirby have children, it'll probably be gone for good." He continued, his eyes sad.

"Wow, depressing much?" Joe muttered, toying with his necklace. Arthur shook his head.

"Yes, so never mind that!" the elder Batamon said, his eyes bright white. "Kirby, you said your sixth sense was telling you to come here?"

Kirby nodded, his eyes flashing gold. "Yeah. But there's no Star Tower on the map. So far, all the Sparkling Stars have been near their towers. So why would it tell me to come here?"

"Five together equal the power of one, but one alone cannot hold." Morgan said, walking into another room.

"… what?" Kirby looked at his grandfather, confused.

Arthur chuckled. "Morgan studied the Sparkling Stars for a LONG time. If there's anyone in Dreamland and the Rainbow Sea that knows anything about the Stars, it's her."

Morgan came back into the room, her orange eyes excited. In her arms were maps, papers, and a book. She dropped all these on the table, and spread out one of the maps.

On it was a rough sketch of Dreamland, but all the towns were written in an odd language. She pointed to the Flouting Islands, and Kirby noticed there was a star on the island.

"What in the stars…" he muttered, his eyes green and brown.

"Roughly 3000 Star Circles ago, there was a Star Tower on this very island." Morgan said, pulling another map from the pile. She spread it on top of the first map.

This map seemed more recent, as it was written in Dreamian. The older female pointed to the Flouting Island, and this time there was no Star. "Around that time, there was a earthquake, and the volcano erupted. I believe that _may _have either destroyed the tower and Sparkling Star, or buried it underground."

"Whoa, whoa… are you saying that one of the Sparkling Stars was destroyed?" Kirby said, his eyes bright white.

"Or buried." Joe pointed out.

"Okay, so what are the chances of a VOLANO _not_ destroying something barely the size of my fist?" the younger Batamon said, his eyes green.

"I'm sure it's just buried." Morgan said, smiling broadly.

"Proof?"

"Maybe that Dreamland hasn't lost all of its crops?"

"There _was_ that crop shortage a while ago…"

Morgan shook her head no. "Five together equal the power of one, but one alone cannot hold."

"What the heck does that mean?" Kimi asked, her arms crossed.

"Ooh! Ooh, I know!" Aluin jumped out of his seat. "Five Sparkling Stars equal the power of one Star Rod, but only one Sparkling Star can't hold the seal on the Dark Lord!"

"I like you. Well informed boy." Morgan smiled, pulling another map out. "It's a proverb. A Star/Planet requires one or two Star Rods to sustain itself. We, instead of one Star Rod, have _Five_ Sparkling Stars. Those sustain Dreamland, while the second backup Star Rod is somewhere in Dusty Dunes."

"If something happens to one of the Sparkling Stars, all of them fail." She continued, spreading the third map on top of the others. This one was a simple outline of Dreamland, with no towns or rivers or anything on it. Five Stars were printed on it, and lines connected all of them. At the center of the map was a rough sketch of a fountain, and all the lines reconnected there.

Morgan pointed to the lines, smiling. "Behold the shape of the galaxy." All eyes, minus Arthur's, widened.

The Five Sparkling Star Towers formed a rough lopsided star around the Rainbow Resort.

"Holy Star Rod…"

"Wow…"

"How come I never noticed that?"

"Whoa, that's kinda cool."

"My plan; we take a small team underground and search for the Sparkling Star." Morgan said, taking a map of the Flouting Island out. She unfolded it, and laid it out on the table.

"Kirby, Arthur, and I are going. Kimi-Ko, you'd better stay here with Aluin and Nuka." She continued.

"What, why?!" Kimi's hair flared up.

"Because you might ignite the volcano again. Aluin and Nuka are too young to go, and I don't want to have to worry about them in the maze."

"… oh. So I'm stuck babysitting?" the lioness's violet eyes flickered like fire. "Fine by me!"

"I'll stay with Kimi-Chan, just in case." Joe said, raising his hand.

"No, you'd better come with us." Morgan said, shaking her head. "We'll need a heavy hitter."

Kimi mouthed a "thank you".

"Gooey, why don't you stay here?" Arthur said, pulling his coat on.

"I think he'd better come with." Kirby said, pointing to his blob-ish friend. "He knows a lot about these things."

"True." Gooey said, his gold eyes shimmering.

"Alright, that gives us five people… probably a good idea." Morgan said, gathering the maps and other things and walking back out of the room.

"Five Stars, five points, five rings, five elements, five guardians, and five tribes! Five is a very lucky number!"Aluin said, smiling.

"Something tells me we're gonna need all the luck we can get." Kirby said, looking out the window.

---

Reviews;

NONE! **'Member, review on the LAST CHAPTER I POSTED. Otherwise I won't like you. Nyaa~**


End file.
